Charlize Theron Like You've Never Seen Her Before

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For playing such a bad girl, Charlize Theron is getting quite a bit of good praise for her role in her latest film, Young Adult.

"What Charlize does in this movie…you never see this in other movies," lauds Theron's co-star Patton Oswalt, who likens her performance to the part that won her an Oscar in 2003.

MORE: 'Young Adult' Trailer

"I think emotionally, this is way rawer than the stuff she did in Monster which was also brilliant, but in Monster she doesn't look like herself so now there is no artifice. She is channeling this other thing through her without judgment and it's kind of astonishing to watch it."

Writer Diablo Cody agrees with Oswalt, although she admits there was some concern to whether or not an audience could believe a "supermodel" like Theron could ever pass as a small-town girl.

MORE: Charlize on Her Boyfriendless High School Years

"I had always imagined Mavis as an attractive tall blonde, but at the same time, Charlize is in a completely different category of beautiful," says Cody, who says her doubts quickly faded as they began filming. "She is so amazing, she is such a chameleon that she pulled it off flawlessly."

Young Adult arrives in theaters December 16, 2011.