Charlize Theron speaks out against death penalty

Oscar nominee Charlize Theron criticised the death penalty after the international premiere on Sunday of her film Monster, in which she portrays a woman executed for a string of murders.

"I'm not for the death penalty and working on this film didn't really change anything for me," Theron told reporters at the Berlin Film Festival. "If anything it made me more aware of how ineffective it is."

In the low-budget film, the South African actress plays homeless prostitute Aileen Wuornos, who committed a series of murders in the United States after killing a man in self defence, an act Theron is better placed to understand than most.

Theron was 15 when her mother shot dead her drunken father after he threatened to shoot his wife and daughter. Playing Wuornos, who was executed in 2002, has won Theron a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for best actress.

"I don't think condemning people who murder and then killing them necessarily sends out the right message," said Theron, 28. "And I have a huge problem with the way these people are used as political pawns."

Theron said Wuornos had been doomed to lead a tragic life. "I think her entire life was just like water going down a drain. And it just kept going faster and faster," she said, adding it was a story that needed to be told.

"We forget that it's our job is to tell people stories. There's only so many pretty stories you can do."