Charlize Theron is threatening to give up her acting career and return to South Africa if the paparazzi ever make her life a living hell.

The Oscar-winner admits she's struggling to come to terms with the flashbulbs and cameras everywhere she and boyfriend Stuart Townsend go - and she'll walk away from Hollywood if it becomes too much.

According to Teenhollywood she said: "When I did Devil's Advocate before I was famous I talked to Al Pacino about all of this. He said that if somebody had told him when he started out in his career that his life would be the way it is today he would've never continued.

"I thought it was just a sad thing for a man like Al Pacino to say - he has brought us such incredible work. That's the truth of it. It's not normal and it does invade."

She adds: "There's an aspect of it that makes you feel like an animal in a cage. That's not something that's normal or should be encouraged at all.

"Honestly, if my life was to go into that direction, I would run away from acting. I would sacrifice this because there's no way I could go through my life like that.

"What people don't realise is it really hurts the process of actors going out there and doing great work."

Source: Press Release