Charlize Theron has opened up in detail about the night her mother shot and killed her father, stating that she is in no way "ashamed" to talk about it.

When she was just 15, her father Charles Theron made a threat on both Charlize and her mother Gerda's lives at their farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg back in June 1991.

As Charles had started shooting at Charlize and her mom, Gerda was forced to act in self-defense and the actress's father sustained fatal wounds as a result.

In a candid interview with NPR, the Oscar-winner explained exactly what had happened.

"My father was so drunk that he shouldn’t have been able to walk when he came into the house with a gun," Charlize said. "My mom and I were in my bedroom leaning against the door because he was trying to push through the door."

"So both of us were leaning against the door from the inside to have him not be able to push through," the Mad Max actress continued. "He took a step back and just shot through the door three times. None of the bullets ever hit us, which is just a miracle."

Gerda then managed to get a hold of her own handgun. "In self-defense, she ended the threat".

Gerda did not face any charges, and the shooting was ultimately ruled to have been in self-defense.

The actress continued:

"This family violence, this kind of violence that happens within the family, is something that I share with a lot of people. I’m not ashamed to talk about it, because I do think that the more we talk about these things, the more we realize we are not alone in any of it. I think, for me, it’s just always been that this story is about growing up with addicts and what that does to a person.

I only knew him one way, and that was as an alcoholic. It was a pretty hopeless situation. Our family was just kind of stuck in it. And the day-to-day unpredictability of living with an addict is the thing that you sit with and have kind of embedded in your body for the rest of your life, more than just this one event of what happened one night.

I think our family was an incredibly unhealthy one. And all of it, I think, scarred us in a way. Of course, I wish what happened that night would have never happened. It’s unfortunately what happens when you don’t get to the root of these issues."

Charlize Theron has opened up in detail about the night her mother shot and killed her father, stating that she is in no way "ashamed" to talk about it.

When she was just 15, her father Charles Theron made a threat on both Charlize and her mother Gerda's lives at their farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg back in June 1991.

As Charles had started shooting at Charlize and her mom, Gerda was forced to act in self-defense and the actress's father sustained fatal wounds as a result.

In a candid interview with NPR, the Oscar-winner explained exactly what had happened.

"My father was so drunk that he shouldn’t have been able to walk when he came into the house with a gun," Charlize said. "My mom and I were in my bedroom leaning against the door because he was trying to push through the door."

"So both of us were leaning against the door from the inside to have him not be able to push through," the Mad Max actress continued. "He took a step back and just shot through the door three times. None of the bullets ever hit us, which is just a miracle."

Gerda then managed to get a hold of her own handgun. "In self-defense, she ended the threat".

Gerda did not face any charges, and the shooting was ultimately ruled to have been in self-defense.

The actress continued:

"This family violence, this kind of violence that happens within the family, is something that I share with a lot of people. I’m not ashamed to talk about it, because I do think that the more we talk about these things, the more we realize we are not alone in any of it. I think, for me, it’s just always been that this story is about growing up with addicts and what that does to a person.

I only knew him one way, and that was as an alcoholic. It was a pretty hopeless situation. Our family was just kind of stuck in it. And the day-to-day unpredictability of living with an addict is the thing that you sit with and have kind of embedded in your body for the rest of your life, more than just this one event of what happened one night.

I think our family was an incredibly unhealthy one. And all of it, I think, scarred us in a way. Of course, I wish what happened that night would have never happened. It’s unfortunately what happens when you don’t get to the root of these issues."