This captivating former model has carved out an impressive career by playing some really ugly characters. After capturing attention as a sexy hit woman in her 1996 film debut, 2 Days in the Valley, the South African beauty took on a succession of less flashy parts, such as an uptight girlfriend in That Thing You Do and a naive Southern wife in The Devil's Advocate. In the late '90s and early '00s, Theron appeared in a plethora of high-minded (if not always successful) Hollywood films (The Cider House Rules, The Legend of Bagger Vance, 15 Minutes), but it was her turn as a lesbian prostitute/serial killer in the 2003 indie hit Monster that established her as a great actress. Virtually unrecognizable under many pounds of extra weight and makeup, Theron took home a Golden Globe and an Oscar for her transformative performance. Although off screen the leggy lady led a glamorous life, frequently appearing on best-dressed lists with her hunky actor-boyfriend Stuart Townsend draped on her arm, she continued her deglamorized cinema streak as a sexually harassed miner in North Country, which earned her Golden Globe and Oscar nods in 2006.