Charlize Theron is having "really hard, honest conversations" with her children about racial injustice.
The 44-year-old actress is mother to Jackson, eight, and August, four, and has said she believes it’s important to discuss police brutality and racism with her children – who are both Black – following the death of unarmed Black man George Floyd, and the Black Lives Matter protests which followed.
She said: "As a parent, it’s been a difficult time. I think all parents, we want to believe we have time. And the world has kind of shaken me in a way that I realise that I don’t have time. There was a moment where I felt like a little piece of my children’s innocence was taken from them during this period because I had to sit down with them and have really, really hard, honest conversations about some really ugly things in our world today that they need to know. I want them to know because I want to raise two little warriors."
The ‘Bombshell’ actress has already seen her children "change" for the better since speaking to them, and feels "lucky" the youngsters "could handle the conversation".
She added: "The most incredible thing is that I’ve seen a change in this period. I’m incredibly proud of them. They’ve been in situations now in the last month where they’ve really kind of shown their integrity and their heart. They’re incredibly special. I’m lucky in the sense that they could handle the conversation."
And Charlize believes it’s important as a parent to continue talking to her children about difficult topics.
Speaking to ‘Entertainment Tonight’, the ‘Atomic Blonde’ star said: "Listen, it’s not one conversation. It’s many conversations and it’s never going to stop. I just want to be in their corner and everybody’s corner right now as much as I possibly can to continue this fight.
"For parents out there, this is the moment where I think we shouldn’t be shielding our children. I think it’s important for us to stop hiding in the shadows and pretending like nothing is going on. I think we can do it in a way where we’re not traumatising our children but where we’re inspiring our children. My girls know that they they have a place in this world and they need to stand up tall and strong and proud and that’s the most important thing right now."