Halle Berry says winning an Oscar is one her “biggest heartbreaks.” Berry is the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. She won for her performance in 2001’s Monster’s Ball and thought that her world was going to change for the better after that moment. However, winning an Academy Award isn’t always the best thing for an actor or actress’ career, which has often been referred to as the “Oscar curse.”
After Halle Berry won the award, she thought that her career was really going to take off and go to the next level. “I thought, ‘Oh, all these great scripts are going to come my way; these great directors are going to be banging on my door,'” Berry said about her post-Oscar career. “It didn’t happen. It actually got a little harder. They call it the Oscar curse. You’re expected to turn in award-worthy performances.” She went on and had this to say.
“It’s one of my biggest heartbreaks. The morning after, I thought, ‘Wow, I was chosen to open a door.’ And then, to have no one… I question, ‘Was that an important moment, or was it just an important moment for me?’ I wanted to believe it was so much bigger than me. It felt so much bigger than me, mainly because I knew others should have been there before me and they weren’t. Just because I won an award doesn’t mean that, magically, the next day, there was a place for me. I was just continuing to forge a way out of no way.”
When asked why her career didn’t include more awards and bigger roles, Halle Berry says, “I think it’s largely because there was no place for someone like me.” While Berry is the first Black woman to win Best Actress, she is also the only one thus far, which is something that she doesn’t understand. “I thought Cynthia was going to do it last year,” Berry said. “I thought Ruth [Negga] had a really good shot at it too. I thought there were women that rightfully, arguably, could have, should have. I hoped they would have, but why it hasn’t gone that way, I don’t have the answer.”
Halle Berry was then asked about Die Another Day, which was one of her more sizable roles after winning the Oscar. Halle Berry’s performance as Jinx was praised by fans and critics, leading to talk about a standalone movie featuring her character. However, the project never ended up happening. “It was very disappointing,” Berry said about the Jinx movie not happening. “It was ahead of its time. Nobody was ready to sink that kind of money into a Black female action star. They just weren’t sure of its value. That’s where we were then.”
Bruised is Halle Berry’s directorial debut and it premieres at the Toronto Film Festival this week. The 54-year old actress has fought her whole career to get behind the camera, and now, she has accomplished that goal. While it hasn’t been the easiest career path for Berry, she is very excited to present her new movie to the world, one that she woke up a 5am every day to work on, even while she had a few broken ribs. You can read the rest of the lengthy interview with Halle Berry over at Variety.
