Halle Berry Says Her Historic Oscar Win Was “One of My Biggest Heartbreaks”

Halle Berry thinks that her historic Oscar win was “one of her biggest heartbreaks.” Many movie fans remember the elation of that night in 2002 when she brought home the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2002. Monster’s Ball was supposed to be the start of a bunch of landmark roles for her, but it didn’t exactly go that way. Berry told Variety that she felt like that the “Oscar Curse” was real because the opportunities that were supposed to come calling just didn’t materialize. But, in spite of that, she remains a popular figure and an inspiration to many performers on-screen today. She’s even directing Bruised, an upcoming film about an MMA fighter. So, all the experience has informed her journey as an actress.

“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 thought, ‘Oh, all these great scripts are going to come my way; these great directors are going to be banging on my door,’” Berry remembered. “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.”

“I thought Cynthia [Erivo, the star of ‘Harriet’] was going to do it last year. I thought Ruth [Negga, nominated for 2016’s ‘Loving’] had a really good shot at it too,” she admitted. “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.”

The star wondered, “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.”

In the same interview, Berry actually said that her experience on Catwoman made her realize that she wanted to direct. There were some decisions that she clearly didn’t agree with and it would seem that filmgoers basically echoed her sentiment due to the movie’s performance.

“The story didn’t feel quite right,” Berry observed. “I remember having that argument: ‘Why can’t Catwoman save the world like Batman and Superman do? Why is she just saving women from a face cream that cracks their face off?’ But I was just the actor for hire. I wasn’t the director. I had very little say over that.”

Would you like to see Halle Berry return as Storm in the MCU as an Easter Egg? Let us know in the comments!