Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron has been no stranger to the action genre in her highly decorated 25-year career in Hollywood. However, since appearing in Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012, Theron has gravitated towards even more badass physical action roles in such movies as Mad Max, Atomic Blonde, Gringo, The Old Guard, The Fate of the Furious, F9: The Fast Saga, and more.
And the trend is stopping anytime soon. Theron has been announced to star in Atomic Blonde 2, as well as Paul Feig's action-fantasy film The School for Good and Evil. These are Charlize's best action films to date, according to IMDb.
Snow White And The Huntsman (2012) 6.1/10
While Snow White and the Huntsman currently holds the same IMDb rating as its sequel, The Huntsman: Winter War, the original has garnered over 125,000 more votes. Also sharing the same rating as the 2018 action film Gringo, Charlize's role as the wicked Queen Ravenna kicks the list off in earnest.
In of her first times playing a fairy tale villainess, Theron tormented Snow White (Kristen Stewart) to no end by sending her ruthless trackers led by The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to end her life. Alas, The Huntsman defects and allies with Snow White to defeat Ravenna instead.
Trapped (2002) 6.2/10
According to IMDb, Trapped is an action-packed kidnap thriller that Theron made one year before giving her Oscar-winning performance in Monster. Adapted from the Greg Iles novel 24 Hours, the film follows an affluent Portland couple's asthmatic daughter Abby (Dakota Fanning) who is taken and held for ransom by a band of kidnappers.
When it turns out the kidnappers are led by a married couple Joe (Kevin Bacon) and Cheryl (Courtney Love), Will (Stuart Townsend) and Karen (Theron) Jennings engage in a cat and mouse game that ends in fatal tragedy.
Hancock (2008) 6.4/10
In the anti-superheroic action film Hancock, Will Smith plays a crass amnesiac superhero who has fallen from grace. Theron plays his secret ex-wife, Mary Embrey, now married to Hancock's PR agent Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman).
Stuck at an existential crossroads, Hancock must overcome his cynical outlook and self-destructive patterns and restore glory to his once-prominent namesake. Likewise, Mary must confront the fact her innate superhuman abilities come with a costly price.
The Fate Of The Furious (2017) 6.6/10
Theron joined the Fast franchise in The Fate of the Furious, the eighth official entry in the long-running action series. As the character Cipher, Theron plays a brilliant criminal and cyberterrorist who kidnaps Elena (Elsa Pataky) and her son in order to turn Dom against his own squad.
When Dom learns Elena's son is also his own, he rethinks the mission and mounts a counterattack against Cipher with the assistance of Raldo (Celestino Cornielle) and Magdalene ( Helen Mirren). Theron reprised the role in the 2021 release of F9: The Fast Saga, the lowest-rated franchise entry to date.
Battle In Seattle (2007) 6.7/10
Battle in Seattle is a political action-thriller about the event that took place in the city in 1999, where thousands of protestors picketed the growing inequality gap in America. Theron stars as Ella, a vocal dissenter protesting the World Trade Organization and its contribution to the wealth gap.
Directed by Theron's longtime former beau, Stuart Townsend, the film is a dramatic reenactment of events that transpired during the protest, including the city of Seattle declaring a national emergency when things escalated from a peaceful protest to a full-fledged riot in the streets.
The Old Guard (2020) 6.7/10
Theron both starred in and produced The Old Guard, a breathless superhero action movie about a band of mercenaries with mysterious regenerative healing powers on a mission in the Middle East. The film became such a massive hit on Netflix that a sequel has already been announced.
Theron stars as Andromache of Scythia, an ancient warlord who uses her immortality and impervious physical prowess to complete dangerous tasks. However, when the criminal Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) tricks Andy's team and exposes their true nature, she must join new team member Nile (Kiki Layne) to stop Copley, weed out a mole, and preserve the team's secret origin.
Atomic Blonde (2017) 6.7/10
Helmed by John Wick's uncredited co-director David Leitch, Atomic Blonde features Theron as a ruthless, ice-cold, and ultra-badass MI6 Agent who exacts a perilous mission in Berlin during the Cold War.
Lorraine Broughton (Theron) is dispatched to Germany to investigate a mysterious murder and retrieve a catalog of traitorous spies. Along the way, Broughton beats and bashes a slew of heavily armed henchmen sent to kill her before the sensitive intel she's after is exposed to the public.
The Italian Job (2003) 7.0/10
Theron worked with The Fate of the Furious director F. Gary Gray for the first time on The Italian Job, a breakneck remake of the 1969 action-heist film of the same name.
The plot concerns a brazen heist of $35 million in gold bars in Venice during broad daylight. Theron plays Stella Bridger, a skilled safe-cracker and daughter of the criminal mastermind John Bridger (Donald Sutherland). After the heist is completed, Stella is recruited to retrieve the gold from Steve (Edward Norton), a traitorous team member hiding in Los Angeles.
Kubo And The Two Strings (2016) 7.8/10
In her only animated action movie to make the list, Theron lent her voice to the role of Kubo's Mother in Kubo and the Two Strings. The acclaimed Laika stop motion follows the title character's (Art Parkinson) quest to come of age and honor his deceased father's legacy.
Kubo's calm and quiet life is interrupted one day when he's attacked by two sisters, Karasu and Washi (Rooney Mara), sent to collect his eye. After being saved by a friend and sent to a faraway realm, Kubo is instructed to find his father's mystical Samurai suit of armor in order to defeat a vindictive spirit.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 8.1/10
In addition to winning six Academy Awards, George Miller's long-awaited Mad Max: Fury Road is currently rated #206 on IMDb's Top 250 Movies of all time. As such, it is Theron's best action movie by a mile.
The relentless onslaught of action in the film plays like a protracted, two-hour chase sequence. Theron owns the show as Imperator Furiosa, arguably her most badass character, who leads a rebellious mission to reach her childhood homeland in defiance of her tyrannical ruler. To help her find salvation, Furiosa aligns with fellow rebel Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy).