Charlize Theron at the "Young Adult" premiere.

Charlize Theron plays a Kardashian-watching, Maker's Mark-swilling, self-loathing 30-something in "Young Adult," out today and already the subject of much praise and talk of golden statues.

In real life, though, she finds reality TV horrifying. In an interview with ABC News Now's "Popcorn with Peter Travers," Theron talked about preparing to play an unhappy couch potato, which involved many DVDs of MTV's "My Super Sweet 16."

"It was the most horrifying show I had ever seen in my entire life," she said. "I seriously want people to watch that as birth control. I don't want to have a child when I watch that show. There's some 16-year-old girl crying, having a small stroke, because she got the wrong color Range Rover and her party only cost a half a million dollars."

As far as watching reality TV when she's not on the clock, Theron said, "I don't subscribe to that life. Oh God, no. But I think from afar, it's fascinating. As far as an actor, human behavior and observing that, it's fascinating to watch."