Halle Berry Once Threatened to Quit ‘X-Men’ if She Wasn’t Given a Bigger Role
Halle Berry made her mark on Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies as the powerful mutant Storm. But Berry felt that her character didn’t have much of a presence in the first two X-Men films. So she gave an ultimatum that might have seen Berry leave the third film if her terms weren’t met.
Halle Berry felt like she was being attacked for her portrayal of Storm
As many know, Halle Berry was recruited for Bryan Singer’s 2000 X-Men movie. The Catwoman actor would go on to reprise her role in three of the film’s sequels, including 2014’s X-Men Days of Future Past. But in the beginning, she felt that fans were upset with the way Storm took a backseat to other characters in the films. So much so that she went to the studio to discuss the fans’ complaints.
“They would like attack me. So I then internalized that and I would go to the studio, ‘I wanna fly with my cape,’” Berry once opened up to Movie Web.
But the studio initially had a less favorable reaction to Berry’s opinion.
“And they’d be like, ‘Well Halle, you’re nuts.’ And I would say, ‘This is the feedback I’m getting. I think Storm does a little bit more in the comic book and the fans aren’t happy. It’s not about me having more but if I’m gonna be on for ten minutes, can I say something important for ten minutes instead of ‘Where’s the plane?'”
Halle Berry threatened to quit ‘X-Men’ if she wasn’t given a bigger role
Although Berry was more than happy playing Storm, she still wanted the role to be more substantial. According to Black Film, the Oscar-winner decided the only way to get the studio to listen to her was by threatening to quit. But she asserted this was only a bluff.
“That’s what I threatened. But I really wasn’t going to do that, but I thought that I somehow have to scare the s*** out of them and get them to give Storm a point of view, so I really didn’t say that to the studio; I just sort of threw that around thinking that it will get some attention,” she explained.
In the end, the studio gave in and Berry’s Storm managed to play a bigger part in X-Men: The Last Stand.
“This is all I ever wanted. Not really more screen time because I know it’s an ensemble, but if Storm spoke for 5 minutes, then I wanted it to be 5 minutes that meant something,” she said. “5 minutes of character development; 5 minutes of a point of view and 5 minutes of some back story history, not just ‘go get the plane’ or ‘come on kids, let’s go’. After three movies, I really wanted her lines to mean something.”
Halle Berry was worried she was going to be replaced as Storm in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’
Berry wasn’t only worried about Storm’s portrayal in The Last Stand. At one point, the Monster’s Ball star was asked if she ever thought she might be replaced as the character. Berry didn’t mince words.
“Yes, and I didn’t like it,” she said. “I would never not had come. Honestly, I love the character and I love the franchise and my responsibility to come and see this character through, so it would never not really be here. I just felt passionately that she needed to be stronger.”
