'It's hard for pretty people' Charlize Theron claims gorgeous women like her get turned away from meaty roles as she slams the acting industry while posing for racy shoot

By REBECCA DAVISON and EMILY SHERIDAN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 00:55, 5 April 2016 | UPDATED: 16:22, 5 April 2016

Charlize Theron has slammed the movie industry, saying it's hard for pretty women to get good roles.

In an interview with British GQ, the 40-year-old said: 'Jobs with real gravitas go to people that are physically right for them and that's the end of the story.'

Adding: 'How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, f**king, gown-wearing eight-foot model? When meaty roles come through, I've been in the room and pretty people get turned away first.'

Tough life: Charlize Theron has slammed the movie industry, saying it's hard for pretty women to get good roles, as she poses in a very racy plunging outfit for a British GQ photoshoot

She added: 'We live in a society where women wilt and men age like fine wine. And, for a long time, women accepted it.

'We were waiting for society to change, but now we're taking leadership. It would be a lie to say there is less worry for women as they get older than there is for men...It feels there's this unrealistic standard of what a woman is supposed to look like when she's over 40.'

Posing for a series of very sexy snaps for the magazine, Charlize looked incredible in a plunging black mini before changing into a racy long dress with a thigh-split.

She said: 'How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, f**king, gown-wearing eight-foot model? When meaty roles come through, I've been in the room and pretty people get turned away first'

She spent most of her life in the United States after leaving her home country of South Africa as a teen model.

However, she admits that some of her fellow country people have made the wrong assumption she's not proud of her homeland.

She lamented: 'I love my country. And it’s very hard for South Africans to believe that, because I left and speak in an American accent. I have a very, very strong connection to my country and to its people.

'It’s the mother that might have abandoned me, in a weird way, but not all the way. I’m not having a pity party, but I’m constantly trying to win its love back.'

See the full shoot in the May issue of GQ, on sale Thursday.