Halle Berry Says Her Oscar Win Was One of Her Biggest Heartbreaks
Though she began her career as a model, competing in the Miss USA and Miss World pageants, Halle Berry is one of the most versatile actors of our time.
From her first film performance as a crack addict in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever to her role as Storm in the X-Men franchise and her groundbreaking role in Catwoman, there isn’t much Berry hasn’t done.
In 2002, she made history when she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Monster’s Ball. She was the first and is still the only Black woman to take home an award in that category. However, Berry has revealed that winning that Oscar was one of her biggest heartbreaks.
Halle Berry thinks there is a reason no other Black Women have won the Oscar for Best Actress Award
Berry won her Oscar the same year, Denzel Washington took home the Best Actor Oscar for Traning Day. Since then, other Black women have been nominated for the award. However, in nearly two decades, that no one else has won. Berry told Variety,
I thought Cynthia [Erivo, the star of Harriet] was going to do it last year. I thought Ruth [Negga, nominated for 2016’s Loving] 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.
Berry does have a theory as to why Black women are continually axed out. “I think it’s largely because there was no place for someone like me,” she explained.
Halle Berry lost out on a ‘James Bond’ spinoff after winning her Oscar
Following her win for Monster’s Ball, Berry snagged the role of Jinx in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movie, Die Another Day. The character was so beloved that the James Bond producers began planning a spinoff movie centering Jinx.
Ultimately, the movie was never made because MGM refused to give out the $80 million budget. “It was very disappointing,” Berry explained. “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.”
Halle Berry said winning her Oscar was her greatest heartbreak
According to Berry, the Oscar-curse is real, especially for the first Black woman to win a Best Actress Oscar. With her years of experience and her accolades, no one was willing to take a bet on her. She revealed,
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.
