Halle Berry Reflects On Why Oscar Win Didn’t Change Her Career

Award-winning actress Halle Berry has graced movie screens for three decades, earning multiple accolades from industry awards organizations. She won Best Actress at the 2002 Academy Awards, but as she’s sharing now, the notable recognition did not really change her career.

The 59-year-old actress reflects on why she feels that way and what it has meant for her acting career.

Berry sat down for an interview with The Cut, where she talked about her recent project, her romantic life, and her career. The conversation touched on her Oscar win in 2002, where she won the award for Best Actress for her role in the movie “Monster’s Ball.”

Berry was the first Black actress to win the Best Actress award at the Oscars since its inception in 1929, and no Black actress has won since. According to her, she assumed the coveted award would change her career’s trajectory, but that didn’t happen.

As she told the publication, “I thought there was going to be, like, a script truck showing up outside my front door. While I was wildly proud of it, I was still Black that next morning.”

She explained that directors still had discussions about casting Black actors in lead roles and questioning what that would do to the story. “Then it’s a Black movie. Black movies don’t sell overseas,” the actress said.

At the 74th Academy Awards in 2002, Berry was up against Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sissy Spacek, and Reneé Zellweger for the Best Actress award. When she was announced as the winner, she was visibly surprised and shaken.

In her speech, she dedicated her win to some notable Black women in the industry, adding, “It’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.”

In an interview with Variety in 2020, however, she said winning the award was one of her “biggest heartbreaks.” The “Gothika” actress now questions whether her win was really an essential moment for Black women or just for her, referring to the fact that no other Black women have won the award since.

“I was just continuing to forge a way out of no way,” she added. As she shared with The Cut, she told Cynthia Erivo, who had been nominated three times for an Oscar, that she deserved to win, “but I don’t know that it’s going to change your life.”

Last year, the documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet” was released on Apple TV+. In it, Berry looked back at what happened after her win, per The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s forced me to ask myself, did it matter? Did it really change anything for women of color? For my sisters? For our journey?”

As she shared in the documentary, she thought there was a big chance for a Black actress to win at the 2021 Oscars, with both Andra Day and Viola Davis nominated for Best Actress. Still, the award ultimately went to Frances McDormand. “For equally different and beautiful reasons, they both deserved it, and I thought for sure,” Berry said.

“The system is not really designed for us, and so we have to stop coveting that which is not for us,” Berry explained, adding that what’s more critical is touching the lives of people through art.

The Academy Awards may celebrate the best, but the Golden Raspberry Awards, also called the Razzies, highlight the worst. The latter was founded as a parody of the Oscars, with the first ceremony held in 1981.

While Berry has won an Oscar, she has also won a Razzie. There are only a few celebrities who personally accept their Razzie award, and Berry was one of them. In 2005, she received her Worst Actress award for her portrayal of Patience Phillips, aka Catwoman, in the movie “Catwoman.”

“First of all, I want to thank Warner Bros. Thank you for putting me in a piece of sh-t, God-awful movie,” she told the laughing crowd. She then called out her manager for convincing her to do “sh-t” projects.