Charlize Theron didn’t want to meet Megyn Kelly before portraying the former Fox News anchor in an upcoming film about Roger Ailes.

“I think it’s important for us to tell the story from afar, and it’s hard for me as an actor to have perspective,” Theron told Variety at the South by Southwest premiere of another movie, her political rom-com “Long Shot.” “I don’t know. It could get emotional, but other people on our crew” did meet her.

Even though she didn’t interact with Kelly, Theron says she has empathy for her. The still-untitled movie by director Jay Roach follows the downfall of Ailes, the late Fox News chief who was ousted after faced sexual misconduct allegations in 2016. Kelly, who worked under Ailes at Fox News from 2004 to 2017, made claims of her own experiences of sexual misconduct with the media magnate, but received criticism for waiting so long to go public.

“I didn’t know how complicated her situation was and I think for a lot of people, they didn’t understand why she didn’t just speak up,” Theron said. “She was in a complicated place and as a human being, I have empathy for that. I don’t think a lot of people truly understood that.”