Charlize Theron has become more aware of the darkness in humanity since she became a mother.
Theron's son Jackson is currently two years old and the actress adopted him when he was just a baby.
And while mothers she knows have moved away from the 'darkness' she has gone the other way.
Speaking to You magazine, the actress explained: "People assume that once you have a child you will naturally veer away from the darkness, [but] I have found the opposite.
"Being a mother is the only thing I have experienced where the reality has surpassed my expectations of how great it would be, but the last thing I want to do now is to close my eyes to everything.
"My quest has always been to understand humanity in all its glory - its beauty and darkness - and I've become more enticed by that side of things since becoming a mother: I am very aware."
We haven't seen Theron on the big screen since starring in comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West in the summer.
She has completed work on Dark Places - an adaptation of the Gillian Flynn novel of the same name - and Mad Max: Fury Road.
The Oscar winning actresses is currently filming The Last Face, which is directed by her partner Sean Penn.
And the actress has joked that it will be some time before her son will be able to watch more of her work.
She continued: "Other than my J'adore campaign, my son won't be able to see any of my work until he's about 53! I've made my peace with that."
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