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In case you didn't get the memo, Charlize Theron is a serious actor now. No more pretty girlfriend parts. Only Oscar caliber dark dramas. She even produced her latest, Sleepwalking, so she could play a desperate single mother who abandons her daughter. Even this summer's Hancock sounds intense. But she's pretty so it's cool.

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CraveOnline: How did you like your trashy wardrobe in the film?

Charlize Theron: I loved it. I loved it, yeah. It felt very comfortable and felt very real and yeah, there’s no denying putting that on and really feeling like you’re Joleen.

CraveOnline: Do you know anyone that’s like Joleen?

Charlize Theron: I don’t personally, no, but you know I observe a lot of people. I observe those kinds of people I don’t know them personally but I’ve watched them.

CraveOnline: So what did you pull from to play that role?

Charlize Theron: You know, it’s an understanding of the world. It’s kind of like going in there and doing the research and really I think more than anything understanding what that kind of damage does to somebody and how they retaliate and I mean, I’d done a lot of that kind of research when I played Aileen [Wournos] and also Josie Ames from North Country. There’s definitely a correlation between those women. It’s interesting when you really kind of study how people kind of deal with a traumentulous past. I mean some kind of turmoil within the family or some kind of an abuse. I think it’s fascinating to kind of study how different people respond to it, so it really kind of came from that, just kind of reading a lot. I’ve always been fascinating by it, so I’ve read a lot of books on it actually. And I guess it’s not hard for me to understand it. It’s kind of effortless for me to understand it. More challenging to actually go execute it but I understand it very much.

CraveOnline: Did you see this as an opportunity to transform it yourself again?

Charlize Theron: No, I’m an actor and I go and do what that job tells me to do. I go and service the story. It’s not about transformation. It’s about finding a story that you emotionally tap into and then servicing that story as the best as you possibly can.

CraveOnline: It seems like the word "transform" offends you.

Charlize Theron: It’s just like after Monster, any time I have brown hair it’s a transformation. Like the rope just gets tighter and tighter and tighter so it does get a little bit grueling after a while because that’s not the idea. I think we’ve just lost touch with what actors are supposed to do and I think that’s what’s frustrating because our job is to go and tell stories and that sometimes means we have to transform to be authentic. Somehow when you do that now you’re just a freak and it didn’t use to be the case.

CraveOnline: When she leaves, what was her plan?

Charlize Theron: [She thought] if she could find a man, all of her problems would disappear. Obviously this was a woman who had such a lack of love in her life that she didn’t even know what real love was. I think she knew it and that’s why the line where she says, "You don’t even have to mean it, just say it," because that’s not even important. She says, "You don’t even have to love me, but if you’re in the picture, if you can play the dad then everything’s going to be fine. My daughter’s going to be good and she’s going to behave and I’m going to be good and I’m going to be happy and we’re going to have the house and everything is going to be fine." It really is a way of not dealing with anything. So the plan was always find the guy. Obviously it’s a little easier when the little girl is not around to hook the guy, so the plan was always leave her there for a month or so, so she could hook the guy to come back and play the dad. But that’s not how life works and I never wanted to put any of that on film. I like the idea of a woman getting off a bus, this image of a woman getting off a bus, and seeing her dreams completely crushed.

CraveOnline: As a producer, you hired Dennis Hopper. He can be a wild card.

Charlize Theron: You know, I can’t lie. When I read it, his face came to mind and I tend to do that quite a bit when I read material. The imagination goes a little crazy and I start seeing people’s faces. Just from the first page [he appears], that first dinner scene because it needed somebody with great charisma and yet at the same time this kind of undertone of just complete fear, and he does that so well. So he was always my first choice.

CraveOnline: Was it fun to go play in a big budget Hollywood movie like Hancock after doing something like this where you were so emotionally invested in every aspect?

Charlize Theron: You know what’s strange? It’s not about budget. Until you kind of drive up to the set and you see more people and bigger trailers and the food is maybe better, that’s really the only difference because at the end of the day that material was incredibly challenging. I still don’t even know how to talk about it. I just recently saw it two days ago and I actually had to call Will [Smith] and I was like, "I don’t even know what to say about this movie because it’s going to sound so pretentious but it’s the most original thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

CraveOnline: What’s the tone of it?

Charlize Theron: I couldn’t tell you. It literally almost gives the middle finger to genre. I mean ,it’s really quite brilliant and Akiva [Goldsman] did a brilliant job, Pete [Berg] did a great job, Will is fantastic in it, but it is one of the most original pieces of work I’ve ever seen. I knew when we were shooting it there were days I looked at Will and I was like what the hell are we doing because I don’t even know what is going on right now. And Pete kind of creates that environment and for some reason it just worked really well with that material. It’s brilliant.

CraveOnline: Does he do his handheld type of camera work in it?

Charlize Theron: Yeah.

CraveOnline: Were you worried about playing the superhero's girlfriend?

Charlize Theron: Actually, I'm not his girlfriend. It could so easily sound like a little summer blockbuster but it's actually got a lot of weight to it. That's why I wanted to do it. It happens to be a big budget film and big star like Will Smith, but it actually has a lot of weight to it. It was very smart and very intelligent and had this kind of historical element to it that I was fascinated by. It's not silly, it's not stupid. It's fun but I think it's smart. I think Akiva writes really interesting material and there you have it.

CraveOnline: Were you nervous about doing another superhero movie after you've done Aeon Flux?

Charlize Theron: No, it's all different. Genre based, I don't believe in that. It's two completely different stories. It's completely, completely different. They're all different in different ways. They're all challenging in different ways. I find John Hancock a challenge because it's not something that I'm familiar with. It's not a comfort zone for me. You throw me in a drama and I know I can swim. I like the idea of doing this and looking at Will and going, "I don't know, Men in Black IV, you tell me. I don't do these." So I like that challenge. What I love about this piece is it really crosses over so many different genres. It's really interesting to shoot out of continuity and to figure out where you're hitting what because it's not just silly comedy. I love Jason Bateman and I thought it was a really well written piece that wasn't just fluff. There was a real intelligence to it yet it was fun but it was smart, complicated, had a lot of conflict. I don't see a lot of that come fourth of July. I liked it.

CraveOnline: What are you doing next?

Charlize Theron: I’m about to go and do the The Road with Viggo. Just doing the flashback stuff.

CraveOnline: Are you looking forward to working with him?

Charlize Theron: Oh yeah. I love that project. It’s my favorite book. It’s so great.

CraveOnline: Who’s directing that?

Charlize Theron: John Hillcoat.