Charlize Theron is a Hollywood A-lister who’s starred in dozens of films of all genres over the past two and a half decades. From Monster to Mad Max: Road Fury, Theron is not afraid to take on challenging roles and transform herself accordingly in order to match the characters she portrays. She’s an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winner with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The South African actress and producer has starred alongside many of the biggest names in the movie industry. With more big films on the horizon, such as the upcoming Fast X and Atomic Blonde 2, likely to arrive over the next year or so, Theron is expected to continue being in the public eye for a long time to come.

So, what constitutes a comedy film? Most importantly, it needs to be truly written to be funny. This means certain Theron films that have comedic elements, like the excellent dramedy Tully, which are more serious in nature, don’t truly make the cut. The same thing goes for memorable films like 2 Days in the Valley, which is more of a thriller. You can have serious subject matter presented in a silly way, but too often nowadays, films are marketed as dark comedies even though there’s little comedy actually on display when you watch them. For that reason, those films will not be the focus here. Instead, these are other, true comedies Theron was in, often in a starring role. Here are Charlize Theron’s best comedy movies.

Related: Charlize Theron's Best Action Movies, Ranked

6 The Addams Family

The animated 2019 comedy film, The Addams Family stars voice acting from Charlize Theron, Oscar Isaac, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Allison Janney. Theron plays Morticia Addams, the loving wife of Gomez and mother of Wednesday and Pugsley. The family has been forced from their home due to an angry mob of people who disapproved of their gothic and macabre lifestyle. This leads the Addams family to move into a dark mansion in New Jersey. There, after their previous experience, they stay away from interacting with the outside world, as most people are unable to understand or relate to them. Everything is fine for years until TV personality Margaux Needler realizes that the Addams' spooky hilltop mansion is in the way of her goal to sell every home in the neighborhood. This forces the family to band together to save their house and stop Needler’s plan to move them out. Most of the comedic laughs here come from the reaction of the so-called “normal” people to the Addams's odd antics and comments. Film and television stars Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short round out the eclectic voice cast.

5 A Million Ways to Die in the West

While not a critics darling by any means, A Million Ways to Die in the West packs an all-star cast and stars the creator of such beloved animated adult sitcoms like Family Guy and American Dad, Seth MacFarlane. This western comedy film is filled with memorable cameos and over-the-top humor. MacFarlane plays sheep farmer Albert Stark, who is convinced the Western frontier is trying to kill him, which it seems like it is at times. Stark’s girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) soon leaves him for a well-off businessman (Neil Patrick Harris). However, once an attractive gun-toting woman named Anna (Charlize Theron) comes into the picture and the two begin to bond, Stark must gather his inner courage to fight Anna’s husband who has sworn to kill him. Taken actor Liam Neeson also stars. There are also classic cameos from Jamie Foxx, Ryan Reynolds, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Lloyd (playing Doc Brown from Back to the Future III), and the recently departed Gilbert Gottfried as Abraham Lincoln, among others.

4 Gringo

As a crime-comedy film, the movie Gringo is a wild ride of a movie. The film stars David Oyelowo (as Harold), Charlize Theron (as Elaine Markinson, she also produced the film), Joel Edgerton, Amanda Seyfried (in another movie with Theron), and Thandiwe Newton. Gringo follows the story of a businessman (Harold) who is sent to Mexico to deliver an experimental marijuana pill. During the business trip, he learns his bosses are about to fire him despite years of loyalty and hard work. To top it off, Harold’s wife is cheating on him and is in the process of getting a divorce. In a moment of panic, Harold comes up with a fake kidnapping plan to extort his bosses for money. However, when this leads to him getting kidnapped by a drug cartel for real, he must escape with the help of a hired mercenary, and things only spiral further out of control from there. Theron’s role is that of a co-president at Promethium Pharmaceuticals and is one of the two people Harold attempts to extort for money after she plans on firing him. It’s a fun plot to follow in order to see how the hijinks play out as well as one of Theron’s most interesting comedic films.

3 That Thing You Do!

As one of Charlize Theron’s earliest roles, That Thing You Do! is an all-time favorite musical comedy movie for many. While the film could be seen as a musical drama at times, there are more than enough comedic moments found from beginning to end to add it to this list. This Tom Hanks-written, directed, and acted movie also stars Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, Ethan Embry, and Charlize Theron. The movie follows the story of the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s pop-rock group called The Wonders. Clearly inspired by bands like The Beatles, it is exciting to watch the progression of the band from a small-town garage rock band to taking over the pop charts and performing on nationally televised TV shows. The song “That Thing You Do” that’s performed during various key moments in the film was written by Fountains of Wayne founder Adam Schlesinger and was nominated for multiple awards, including an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Theron has a somewhat small role here as Wonders drummer Guy Patterson’s girlfriend. However, her character helps advance Guy’s plot nearly every time she’s on-screen. For example, a hilarious romance ensues between Theron’s character and her dentist. This film is seen by many as Theron’s big break in Hollywood, leading to much bigger roles in the years following.

2 Young Adult

For Young Adult, Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a late-30s ghostwriter of young adult novels who’s a struggling alcoholic. There are numerous signs that Mavis has never truly become an adult herself, hence why she probably writes novels for teenagers for a series of books that are in process of being discontinued. Mavis soon gets obsessed with the idea of getting back with her high school sweetheart, Buddy. The problem is that Buddy is happily married and also has a newborn daughter. Assuming that won’t be an obstacle she can’t overcome, Mavis goes back to her hometown of Mercury, Minnesota to put her plan into place. In the process, she befriends Matt, a former classmate Mavis barely remembers. Despite her misguided confidence, Buddy has no plans to reconcile and Mavis is forced to take a look at the life she’s been leading. While there are dramatic moments for sure, the comedy is partially in her false sense she’s going to succeed in getting Buddy to completely uproot his life out of nowhere and get back together with her, as well as her growing friendship/potential lover situation with Matt. Comedian Patton Oswalt also stars.

1 Long Shot

Alongside Seth Rogen, Long Shot is Charlize Theron’s best comedic film. A New York journalist named Fred Flarsky (Rogen) gets a chance to run into his old babysitter at a charity fundraiser. However, it just so happens that Flarsky’s former babysitter (and childhood crush) is now United States Secretary of State and future potential United States Presidential candidate, Charlotte Field (Theron). A brief reunion between the two turns into more after Flarsky stands up to the unethical but wealthy media mogul who bought out the newspaper company Flarsky used to write for, at the fundraiser. After a few choice words between the two, Flarsky takes a bad spill down the stairs in front of everyone. This later prompts Field to check out some of Flarsky’s articles he’d previously written, and she decides to hire him as her new speechwriter.

He begins to be her political moral compass and the two grow close. After a conflict in the Philippines, the two begin a romantic relationship that soon gets put to the test due to Field’s handlers saying Flarsky will hurt her approval ratings. There’s also a scandalous hidden camera video that gets released of Flarsky that makes things even worse. This 2019 romantic political comedy delivers strong chemistry between the two actors and was pretty well received by critics in the process. While Theron had previously shown off her comedic side before, having a comedy pro like Rogen to play off of and a good script to work with made this her strongest comedic outing so far.