Halle Berry became the first, and still the only, Black woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Lee Daniels’ Monster’s Ball. But that did not help her prospects in the industry much. Despite her milestone achievement, Berry continued to struggle in Hollywood. She elaborated on how she was left disappointed when her trajectory remained the same.
Halle Berry on how her Monster’s Ball Oscar didn’t alter her career
Halle Berry made history with her Oscar win, becoming the only Black woman in the history of the award to win an Academy Award for Best Actress. As monumental as the achievement is, it should have changed the entire trajectory of Berry’s career, but that did not happen after her win, contrary to what she was expecting.
Berry explained that the film “didn’t necessarily change the course of my career. After I won it, I thought there was going to be, like, a script truck showing up outside my front door” (via The Cut).
Berry added, “While I was wildly proud of it, I was still Black that next morning. Directors were still saying, ‘If we put a Black woman in this role, what does this mean for the whole story? Do I have to cast a Black man? Then it’s a Black movie. Black movies don’t sell overseas.”
Berry’s reflection on the matter is quite similar to Lupita Nyong’o, who talked about the same feeling about a year back, where she claimed that she expected things to change after her Oscar-winning performance as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, but nothing really changed for her either.
Either way, despite the challenges and often disappointing results, Halle Berry remains involved in the industry and has carved out quite a space for herself over the years.
Berry will soon appear in Crime 101, alongside Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Nick Nolte.
Originally reported by Sourav Chakraborty on ComingSoon.
