Charlize Theron named Esquire's sexiest woman

Charlize Theron, who played a prostitute turned serial killer in Monster, has been named "sexiest woman alive" by Esquire magazine.

Theron, who has chosen a series of unglamorous roles, including a grim miner in North Country and a detective in In the Valley of Elah, will be featured in a revealing photo shoot in the Oct. 16 issue of Esquire.

She won an Oscar and Golden Globe for her role in Monster and nominations for both awards for North Country.

Theron's latest movie is Canadian Paul Haggis's In the Valley of Elah, a murder mystery set among U.S. troops newly returned from Iraq.

"I wanted to make the movie precisely because it evades formulas about guilt," the 32-year-old actress said in an interview in Esquire. "I'm drawn to ambiguity."

Past winners of Esquire's "sexiest woman" title include Jessica Biel, Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson.