Charlize Theron Injured Doing Movie Stunts Without a Harness: ‘Actually a Miracle That I’m Here’

Never doubt Charlize Theron’s commitment to her role.

The Fast & Furious actress revealed that she did some of her own stunts while filming her upcoming movie, Apex, and she paid the price.

“Our crew delivered a really impressive movie, and yours truly did some stunts and action — without a harness, sometimes,” said Theron, 49, at Netflix’s 2025 upfront presentation on Wednesday, May 14. “Don’t tell Netflix.”

“It’s actually a miracle that I’m here today,” she continued. “Apex only wrapped like a week ago, so I’m fresh off the mountain. I still have some Australian dirt under this pretty manicure, and my cute boot is hiding a fractured toe, and I can go on and on and on, but I won’t.”

Apex follows a mountain climber (Theron) who finds herself hunted by a ruthless serial killer. Eric Bana and Taron Egerton also star in the film, which does not yet have a release date.

“Working in the rugged, beautiful terrains of Australia with three of the world’s most talented, dedicated actors in Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton, and Eric Bana is such a joy — even as I put them through the gauntlet in this unique survivor story,” director Baltasar Kormákur said in a story for Netflix’ Tudum in February.

This isn’t the first time Theron has done her own stunts, having done them herself in Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, and both The Old Guard movies. Atomic Blonde’s stunt coordinator, Sam Hargrave, told People in 2017 that Theron went through extensive martial arts training in order to pull off her own stunts for the movie.

“The entire stunt team was very pleasantly surprised at her overall physical ability,” he said. “She was extremely tough; she did 95 percent of all of her own fighting.”

Still, Theron said Apex’ stunts truly put her to the test.

“I can honestly say that shooting Apex was one of the most incredible experiences of my life,” Theron said, adding that Apex was even more grueling than The Old Guard 2, the superhero action movie due to hit Netflix on July 2.

“I actually never thought that I would be able to outdo the action that I did in Old Guard 2, which is coming out in a couple of weeks,” she said. “Back to me almost dying, I’m really proud to share a little of this mammoth movie that I got to work on, and I have to say I was very lucky to work alongside the very talented Taron Egerton.”