What would go down as a monumental win for black entertainers in 2002 after Monster’s Ball actress Halle Berry clinched the Oscar, the star has called it her biggest heartbreak as the win didn’t bring about the much desired change.
In a heartfelt no hold barred chat with Variety, the 54 year old says;
“I definitely feel like there’s a turning point. I’m more encouraged that as women, we are feeling confident enough to tell our stories. And there is a place for us to tell our stories. For so long, our experiences have been told narratively through the guise of men.”
“I think it’s largely because there was no place for someone like me. I thought, ‘Oh, all these great scripts are going to come my way; these great directors are going to be banging on my door.’ 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 continues:
“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.”
After her Oscar win, she says that she chose to take on the role of Catwoman, in hopes that it would change the types of roles given to Black actors.
“People said to me, ‘You can’t do that. You’ve just won the Oscar,’ Because I didn’t do Jinx, I thought, ‘This is a great chance for a woman of color to be a superhero. Why wouldn’t I try this?’”
