DON’T mess with Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron ‘cause she’s a lot stronger than she appears, according to the person who knows her best — her Irish boyfriend Stuart Townsend.

“She’s very tough with a lot of balls. You do not see that on the red carpet. You do not see the big balls hanging out!” Townsend told the Sunday World of his lovely South African lady, who shot to fame after portraying serial killer Aileen Wuornos on screen in Monster.

Charlize and Stu have been dating for the past couple of years, and currently cohabitate in Los Angeles. Her career is going from strength to strength, but Dubliner Stu is still waiting for his breakthrough role. His co-starring vehicle with Charlize, Head in the Clouds, was released a few months back, and hardly anyone noticed.

It could have been all so different had he been allowed to follow through with his work in the Lord of the Rings mega movie franchise. Stu, you may recall, was selected for the role of Aragorn before filming commenced on the first Lord film, but was dumped at the last minute in favor of Viggo Mortensen.

“They did not like what they saw in rehearsals; they felt I would not be able to do the job,” Townsend said. “I come from a background of not giving it all until the big day. What they wanted was the full product on the first day of rehearsals.”

Oh, well. Stu says he’s fine with how the whole debacle turned out. “My life might not be as successful as it would have been had I played Aragorn, but I might not have been so happy as I am now, either. I would rather take happiness over success,” he reckons.

And he’s still keeping busy. He was recently cast in a movie due for release in 2006, The Best Man, alongside Seth Green and Amy Smart. And he’s active in the campaign to save the ancient Hill of Tara in Meath from being a casualty of the Celtic Tiger boom, as controversial plans are in the works to build a highway through the site.