Charlize Theron is welcoming her upcoming 50th birthday with open arms.
As the actress approaches her newest age milestone in August, she spoke with PEOPLE during the premiere of The Old Guard 2 at Netflix's Tudum Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 25, about what it means to be approaching 50.
"I feel like time has actually really started to slow down the older I get," says Theron. "In my 20s, it was going so fast, and I was in such a rush, and now I feel like ... I'm not."
And while she's "still in a rush" to an extent -- like in being "a mom and [having] to chase after so many things" -- the Oscar winner adds, "I feel like I'm not worried so much about time running out."
"From my 40s on to now, I've just felt like I have a better understanding of balance," Theron says. "I am still struggling with it, but I don't fight it as much anymore. I can enjoy life a little more."
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Directed by Victoria Mahoney, The Old Guard 2 reunites Theron's Andy with KiKi Layne's Nile, Marwan Kenzari's Joe, Luca Marinelli's Nicky, Matthias Schoenaerts' Booker, Vân Veronica Ngô's Quỳnh and Chiwetel Ejiofor's Copley. Uma Thurman and Henry Golding are among the new cast.
The first movie follows Andy and her centuries-old crew welcoming a newly minted immortal, Layne’s U.S. Marine Nile, to their ranks. The new movie again sees powerful foes who have caught onto their undying tricks, looking to capitalize on that power.
A synopsis for The Old Guard 2 teases that "Andy and her team of immortal warriors are back, with a renewed sense of purpose in their mission to protect the world."
"With Booker still in exile after his betrayal and Quynh out for revenge after escaping her underwater prison, Andy grapples with her newfound mortality as a mysterious threat emerges that could jeopardize everything she's worked towards for thousands of years," it adds.
As Theron tells PEOPLE at Wednesday's premiere in L.A., going head to head with Kill Bill's Thurman, 55, for The Old Guard 2 "was everything that we hoped for."
"It's what we got excited about in the pre-production," she adds. "We're so grateful that she said yes. And I look at the movie now and I still pinch myself. I still can't believe she said yes."
And Golding, 38, has his own praise to heap upon Theron, telling PEOPLE at the premiere, "She leads from the front," which is something he considers "a rare commodity in Hollywood."
"She's on set first thing in the morning,last at night,and she's creating what she wants and she's in there with the action;she's in there with the choreography,"he explains."[She] and Tom Cruise are some of the last of the movie stars,I think."