Flashback! Mad Max star Charlize Theron poses with jet black hair and smokes a cigarette at 18 in unearthed modelling photos
Before Sean Penn, her lucrative Dior campaign and Oscar winning role in 2003's Monster, Charlize Theron attempted to make it big in the modelling business.
Recently, never-before-seen head shots of the South African beauty surfaced from her pre-fame days before she was discovered by talent manager John Crosby at the young age of 18 in 1994.
In the black and white photos, the Mad Max star - who is now 39-years-old - donned black lingerie and shows her rebellious side with a lit cigarette in her mouth.
Throwback: Never-before-seen head shots of Charlize Theron surfaced from her pre-fame days before she was discovered by talent manager John Crosby at the young age of 18 in 1994
Charlize was styled with slicked back jet black tresses, thick eyebrows, dark makeup and a drawn-on mole similar to that of Cindy Crawford's trademark.
She posed in only a black lace bra and knickers on top of a bed.
During her late teen years, Charlize's mother Gerda entered her in a modeling contest, in which she received an offer from an Italian scout and headed straight to Milan.
Young age of 18: The Oscar winner was styled with slicked back jet black tresses, thick eyebrows, dark makeup and a drawn-on mole similar to that of Cindy Crawford's trademark
Big break: Charlize's mother Gerda entered her in a modeling contest, in which she received an offer from an Italian scout and headed straight to Milan
A year later, the ingenue grew tired of being seen as only a model, telling People she became 'somebody beautiful who should not say a word.'
Charlize then moved to Manhattan and enrolled at the Joffrey Ballet School to try her hand in professional ballerina.
However a knee injury quickly ended her short career so she moved to LA to pursue acting in 1994 with a single tattered suitcase and $400 in her pocket.
Not long after her move to the west coast, Charlize was discovered by talent manager John Crosby that same year, when he spotted her throwing a 'little tantrum' in an LA bank after the teller's refusal to cash her check.
Good girl gone bad: The Mad Max star - who is now 39-years-old - donned black lingerie and shows her rebellious side with a lit cigarette in her mouth
Moving on: The ingenue quickly grew tired of being seen as only a model, telling People she became 'somebody beautiful who should not say a word'
'It was just plain, simple, young, stupid naiveté,' she explained to Oprah Winfrey in 2005 of her decision to move to Hollywood.
'I was living such a gypsy life. So if this didn't work, it would be just another adventure for me in a new place. I'd been modeling all over Europe - Milan, Paris, London. Before I left South Africa, my whole theory was this: If everything falls apart, then at least I got to see the world.'
When asked if she were to return to modeling, now that she's recognized as an accomplished actress, she simply stated: 'Not my thing. I like to talk.
'Modeling just wasn't artistically satisfying for me because I like to say what's on my mind. And in that business, you stand there while they put what they want on you, like it or not.'
Something different: 'Modeling just wasn't artistically satisfying for me because I like to say what's on my mind. And in that business, you stand there while they put what they want on you, like it or not'
And the Oscar goes to! The mother-of-one played serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 film Monster, a portrayal she gained 30 pounds for
Tens later since her first big break landing a few minor roles in box office flops, Charlize garnered the role of her career that would soon lead to her first-ever Oscar trophy.
The mother-of-one played serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 film Monster, a portrayal she gained 30 pounds for.
She reigned victorious in the same category as established actresses Diane Keaton, Naomi Watts, Samantha Morton and Keisha Castle-Hughes.
Top beauty: Charlize attended the Cannes Film Festival in France on Thursday to promote her latest film Mad Max
