By: Debra Wallace

Charlize Theron does not pull any punches.

Frank, fearless, and bawdy come to mind when describing the award-winning actress and star of Paramount's quirky holiday movie, Young Adult, about a young woman who moved away from her home town to pursue her writing dreams, but never quite grew up.

In fact, Theron as Mavis Gary portrays an emotionally immature young woman whose happiest times were in high school, and she goes back home to Minneapolis to re-live them and reclaim her former sweet heart -- who is a happy husband and new dad.

When she walks into the ballroom at the posh Ritz Carlton in Manhattan one can not help but rivet their eyes -- to her clingy black leather leggings, white silk blouse over a lacy peek-a-boo black bra, and mile-high black and cream leather stilettos. Her shoulder-length hair was worn down, her eyes smoky, and small diamonds dangled from her ear lobes.

The gifted and statuesque South African beauty, and Oscar winner for her role in Monster, looked radiant and happy. Theron, 36, was gregarious and engaging and eager to chat with her co-star Patton Oswalt, (King of Queens), and the screenwriter of the movie Diablo Cody (Juno).

Young Adult also co-stars Patrick Wilson (A Gifted Man), Elizabeth Reaser (Twilight Breaking Dawn), and Jill Eikenberry (LA Law), and was directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You For Smoking, and Up in the Air).

Reitman says that he knew that only Charlize could pull off a character as unlikable as Mavis because of her fearless nature. "In the hands of any other actress, the audience would turn away. But with Charlize, you understand why Mavis is broken, and that's honestly why I think Young Adult works."

Q: Charlize, you play an alcoholic, mentally ill delusional woman, and a loser...So why did you go for this character in Young Adult?

Charlize Theron: I've never been a fan of labels. I think it's very easy to look at somebody, and just kind of throw a label on them or to say that they're crazy. And I'm not a big fan of overly justifying bad behavior. Or why people are the way they are. I think that's a copout. And I don't have a lot of empathy for that.

Q: Okay, so what were you thinking?

CT: Well, I thought the things that she did were pretty despicable. But then again, not to the point where I was like disgusted with her. I never had a hard time not liking her. I would love to go and have a beer with her!

Q: I think she would be quite an offbeat friend.

CT: True. I would never let her hang out with my boyfriend! But I would love to hang out with her.

Q: Why?

CT: I think she's entertaining about all of her baggage and stuff. But all I know when I read the script, I was drawn to the idea of a woman dealing with very common mid to late '30s issues. And one that women can really relate to.

Q: Your scores of fans haven't seen you in films lately and you said you weren't working a lot -- so how did you spend the last couple of years?

CT: On my couch! Munching on potato chips! Unemployed.

Q: Really?

CT: No, it sounds like it was like that, but I was actually packing to go off to Australia on a year shoot on Fury Road. And working on my production company. So creatively. I just wasn't in front of the camera.

Q: You seem to have a great passion for life, acting and helping others -- do you feel that way?

CT: Yes, I love it, I love all of it that's why I do it. I feel incredibly blessed to do what I love. It keeps me feeling healthy, and confident.

Q: What's up with your Africa Outreach project?

CT: It's going great. We're just continuing to find projects that are really encouraging in prevention care. If you do this kind of work, it's like anything in life, if you don't love it, you shouldn't do it. And I really love what we're doing, and I really believe in it.

Q: Tell me more.

CT: Growing up in a country like that, and seeing how prevalent AIDS is. And also understanding the immediate need. But feeling this kind of horrible neglect for people who just have no tools to understand how not to become HIV positive. And that just seems so wrong to me. And it felt like a missed opportunity. So we're just really trying to encourage ready, existing NGOs to really support prevention care. And so, it's been great.

Q: Do you see this kind of raunchier female image in several recent movies that struck a cord, including Young Adult and Bride Wars, as progress for women in entertainment, or a step backwards?

CT: I talked a lot about this when I did Monster. I think people get kind of really freaked out when they see real women and when they see conflicted women. But I think women are almost way more conflicted that men. And I think we come from a society where we're very comfortable with the Madonna-Whore Complex.

Q: Please elaborate on that?

CT: You know, we're either really good hookers, or really good mothers. But we're not bad hookers, and we're not bad mothers. And we're nothing in between. And I think it is refreshing to kind of see that. I grew up on cinema where guys got to do that. Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman, and De Niro got to play all of those kinds of characters that, I saw a bit of myself in. Those kinds of struggles, and the lurking darky things, you know?

Q: Tell me more.

CT: Well, it's very rare to see women like that. But we are those honest characters that women are getting to play. And when people tell me, 'oh that's so brave,' - it really isn't. It's just refreshing. And it's so great as an actor to get the opportunity to do something that's incredibly truthful. It's been really, really, nice.

Q: Were you the girl everyone obsessed about in high school?

CT: I wasn't really in the popular crowd. I went to art school, where I was kind of obsessed with ballet. And I wore really, really nerdy glasses. I was blind as could be. And boys don't really like big nerdy glasses. Not so much. And I had a crush. I didn't really have boyfriends.

Q: Did you ever go back to your hometown like Mavis after getting famous, and what was that like?

CT: I've gone back several times. I don't know, the only thing I remember was walking through the house and the bedroom I grew up in, and everything feeling so small. It was such a bizarre feeling, I can't explain it. And I was like, my mother made me sleep in a closet! Everything just felt so, the roof felt so low. And that was kind of profound for me, because I just remember it so big. But I still see some of my high school friends, and I'm in touch with one of my high school girlfriends almost every single day. But I don't hate going back to my home own. It's actually really nice.

Q: What would an Oscar nomination mean to you for the movie Young Adult?

CT: I can't even think about anything like that. I mean; I know it sounds so unbelievably cliché. But I haven't worked in three years. And to have the opportunity to come back and do something like this, has been the greatest gift. It's just really nice to have people come up to me, and say how the movie put them in a...Mavis mood! You know, free to admit they've done things like Mavis, which I love so much. Plus, I [already] have an Oscar.

Paramount's Young Adult Opens Friday, Dec. 9!