Watch Charlize Theron Fight ‘Like a Girl’ in Intense ‘Atomic Blonde’ Training Video
Behind-the-scenes look shows actress training to play a deadly spy and martial arts expert
July 11, 2017
Universal released a featurette on Tuesday that showed the intense training Charlize Theron went through to play top-level MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton in “Atomic Blonde,” hitting theaters in July.
The film, based on a graphic novel, tells the story of Broughton investigating the murder of a fellow agent. The character must battle a steady stream of opponents to gain the information she needs, putting Theron at the center of numerous action-packed fight scenes.
“Not knowing her skill level, we were going to break things down, do three or four moves, then cut,” stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave recalls in the video (above).
But once director David Leitch saw Theron’s impressive fighting ability, he revamped the sequences. Leitch explains that he told the choreography team, “We’ll do longer takes, and we’ll do more complex moves because she could do 20 moves without cutting.”
Theron trained with different martial arts instructors to perfect Broughton’s incredible fighting skills. On her rigorous training, Theron said: “Right from the beginning, it was very clear the way I was gonna fight—how a woman would really be able to fight and not break every bone in her fist.”
“Atomic Blonde” hits theaters on July 28.
