Way back in 2001, Halle Berry won an Oscar for her phenomenal performance in Monster's Ball. She is still the only black woman to have ever received the Best Actress award. Years later, she continues to talk about the need for more diversity in Hollywood.
In a recent interview with Marie Claire magazine, she expressed:
“I’m still eternally miffed that no black woman has come behind me for that best actress Oscar. I’m continually saddened by that year after year.”
Halle Berry is not the only one to have felt this way. Performances like that of Andra Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday and Viola Davis in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom got so much critical acclaim, but weren't able to secure the big award.
Berry told Variety magazine:
“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's historic Oscar win and continued disappointment
When Berry took the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2001, she became the first black woman to have ever won that title. It was a remarkable event for racial diversity in Hollywood, and Halle Berry certainly felt the weight of that.
As she tearfully accepted her Oscar for Monster's Ball, she declared:
“This moment is so much bigger than me.”
She did think her win would open more doors to other women of color. More than 20 years later, Berry remains the only black woman to hold that title. It was a huge deal when she won, but it hasn't spawned the change she thinks it should have.
In an interview with Marie Claire, Berry wondered if it was just a personal victory:
“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?’”
Talking of the still-hot representation issues, Berry revealed to Variety that winning her Oscar was one of her "biggest heartbreaks", because it didn't remotely open up more opportunities for black actresses. She added that just because she won an award, didn't mean there were more opportunities, even for herself.
Halle Berry on her career and new projects
Of course, Berry is somewhat disappointed that the Academy has not so far opened their doors wider to black actresses, but she chose not to get bogged down by this. She asked in the same interview with Marie Claire if she'd want some awards or just a great, flourishing career as a black woman.
“I’d take the kickass, soaring career over an award any day,” she concluded.
Her latest project, Never Let Go, is a horror film steeped in intergenerational trauma. In an interview with Daily Dead, Halle Berry discussed what initially got her excited about the plot of the film.
She said:
“My imagination got captured with the thought of being a mother—having birthed two children in a house and then being stuck there for a decade. What would that be like? How would you live through that?”
She also spoke to the psychological element of the film that dabbled with the question of whether or not the character of the mother was dealing with mental health issues or if the evil in the film was actually real.
“The idea of generational trauma is all over this movie—how we pass down our fears to our children,” Berry said.
She sent kudos to her young co-stars Anthony and Percy, who were just so professional on set. She said that they handled everything that a seasoned actor would do and did it all with big smiles.
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To see Halle Berry in her new movie, check out Never Let Go when it hits theaters on September 20, 2024. It'll also be streaming on Apple TV+.
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