See 9 Immigrants Who Became Famous In The United States

3. Charlize Theron, South Africa

The Oscar-winning actress was born an only child in the then Transvaal Province of South Africa. Theron grew up on her parents’ farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg. At 16, she won a one-year modeling contract in Milan. Theron spent the year modeling throughout Europe before migrating to New York City, where she trained as a ballet dancer until suffering a knee injury. Following her injury, Theron purchased a one-way ticket to Los Angeles in hopes of making it in the film industry. During her early months in LA, she went to a Hollywood Boulevard bank to cash a check her mother had sent her to help with the rent, but when the teller refused to cash it, Theron engaged in a shouting match with him. Upon seeing this, talent agent John Crosby handed her his business card and eventually introduced her to casting agents and an acting school. In her first major role, she played a hitwoman in 1996’s 2 Days in the Valley. Larger roles and more successful films followed including The Devil’s Advocate, Mighty Joe Young, and The Cider House Rules. But Theron’s most significant performance came when she played a serial killer in the 2003 film, Monster. Roger Ebert called it “one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema.” For her portrayal, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award and the Golden Globe Award. She is the first South African to win an Oscar for Best Actress. Theron worked on nearly twenty projects following Monster‘s success. She currently has one adopted son, Jackson and is set to star in two upcoming films in 2016.