Halle Berry no longer has to prove anything to anyone in Hollywood. As Storm, she was active in the Marvel universe, and as Catwoman, she turned the competition at DC on its head. Even Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond would have been lost without her support on his last mission in the early 2000s.
At the time, Berry was in the headlines for something completely different. She starred in the romantic drama Monster’s Ball, which tells the story of a correctional officer who starts a relationship with a woman without knowing that she is the Widow of a man in whose execution he played a key role.
Halle Berry explains her disappointment with the Oscars since her historic win in 2002
Berry played that woman and received the award for her strong performance at the 2002 Oscars as Best ActressThis makes her the first black actress to receive this honor. What was celebrated at the time as the beginning of a new era in Hollywood now makes the actress sad.
The reason: Nothing has changed. In a new interview with Marie Claire, Berry looks back on the past 22 years with disappointment:
I’m still angry that no black woman has won the Oscar for Best Actress since me. This makes me sad every yearAnd it is certainly not because there was no one who deserved it. With the exception of Michelle Yeoh, all winners in the Oscar category Best Actress were white
A look at the Oscar records since 2002 proves Berry right. The vast majority of winners in the Best Actress category are white. only exception is Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once), who was the first Asian woman to be awarded the Golden Boy in 2023.
But in the field of nominees, there would definitely have been some exciting options Berry mentions Andra Day, who wowed in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Or the brilliant performance of Viola Davis in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Cynthia Erivo’s performance in Harriet could also be mentioned from recent years.
Berry’s frustration is understandable. Last but not least, the Oscars have a symbolic radiance and the signal sent by the recent awards may not have been very encouraging for people of color in Hollywood.