(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Charlize Theron insists she is "completely at peace" with the horrifying death of her father.

In 2007 it was revealed that at 15, Charlize was witness to her father's death at the hands of her mother. Charles Theron died in June 1991 after he was shot by his wife, Gerda. Charlize's father, who suffered from alcoholism, physically attacked her mother and threatened both women while drunk.

The shooting was legally adjudged to have been self-defence and her mother faced no charges.

Charlize insists that she doesn't suffer at the hands of the terrifying ordeal.

"No, it doesn't haunt me. I'm completely at peace," she confessed in an interview with Piers Morgan.

Rather than focus on the death of her father, Charlize instead praised her mother's courage at the hands of her brutal husband. The Academy Award-winning actress hates that the incident tends to define her mother and wishes people would draw their attention to her attributes as a parent instead.

"My mother is amazing. I know all daughters or children will say this, it sounds very biased, but she is very unique. She's saved my life many times. She hates this. My mom is a very private person so she hates when I talk about her but we always tend to talk about that night," she explained. "I think it's important for people to understand that my mother has this incredible ability, this resilience about her that I've never come across in any other human being. She has this incredible ability to truly understand and appreciate the value of life."

"And I'm not just saying it because of that experience, she had it before, when I was growing up. Not because she went through an event. I'm saying from the time that I was a little girl, my mother, she celebrates life."

Charlize says her mother's abilities to nurture and protect are sometimes overlooked. The stunning star, 35, wants people to recognise her mom's outstanding abilities as a parent and not just focus on that fateful night's events.

"I don't understand where she got the tools. She did not have a mother who was good to her. I feel like I always want to sing her praises because I feel that it's wrong that that's the event that people always talk about," she said.

Piers Morgan Tonight airs weeknights on CNN. (C) Cover Media