Halle Berry

SHE`S ON FIRE

After two decades in Hollywood, the beautiful and talented HALLE BERRY is still sizzling.

By Bret Love

It may be hard to believe, but HALLE BERRY is even more beautiful in person than she appears on the big screen. From her luminescent skin and perfect smile to a curvaceous figure, the 41-year-old actress is the rare Hollywood star who more than lives up to the fantasy. But don`t sell her short: Berry proves she`s just as smart as she is sexy.

Berry has made a career out of balancing edgy independent fare (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Monster’s Ball) with big-budget blockbusters (X-Men, Die Another Day). Her latest film, Things We Lost in the Fire, stands in stark contrast to the glossy sheen of last April’s Perfect Stranger, casting her as a grieving widow who invites her husband’s troubled best friend (Benicio Del Toro) to live with her and her two kids. It’s a promising return to form that should silence the critics who insist Berry’s been playing it safe ever since her historic 2002 Oscar win.

Despite her fame and fortune, Berry remains eminently approachable (if not downright flirtatious) after recently entering her 40s, with none of the attitude you might expect from a star of her stature. We recently had the chance to talk with her about the pressures of being a role model, kissing the Hollywood Walk of Fame and how she’s bringing sexy back.

YOUR MOM WAS A NURSE ON A PSYCHIATRIC WARD AT A VA HOSPITAL FOR 35 YEARS. DID HAVING A PARENT IN THIS FIELD AFFECT YOUR EMOTIONAL GROWTH?

“It had a profound effect. I’ve always questioned who I was, and I’ve always been able to express my feelings freely. I’ve never been pent-up or unaware of my feelings. I was always looking for my purpose in life. She taught me that early on, ‘You’re not just here for no reason.’ She’d always ask me, at different stages of my life, ‘What do you think your purpose is?’ She forced me to ask myself that question.”

IT SEEMS LIKE EVERY ROLE YOU EMBARK ON TACKLES A DIFFERENT GENRE. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU CHOOSE TO DO CONSCIOUSLY?

“I feel like once I’ve done something, there’s no reason to re-do it. Eventually, maybe you run out of different things to do, but I always seek out new challenges. What haven’t I done? What can I learn from doing something different? Sometimes it’s a little risky when you do that, but I think in this industry you have to take risks and not get too complacent.”

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE BETWEEN PERSONAL PROJECTS LIKE MONSTER’S BALL AND THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD AND BIG STUDIO FILMS LIKE X-MEN AND DIE ANOTHER DAY?

“I’ve always approached my career trying to balance things that I do for the sake of art with things that will hopefully be commercially successful. I think that’s the balance artists need to have today. So much of the business has become about dollars and cents that, if you ignore that aspect of it and say, ‘I’m an artiste!’ you could work your way right out of the industry. It’s really about both today. So I approach it trying to do big things followed by small little art movies with characters I love. I wanna do the things I wanna do. I don’t wanna let the fact that I have an Oscar make me feel like I can’t just have fun and do all the things I loved doing before that night.”

A LOT OF CRITICS HAVE QUESTIONED YOUR SEEMINGLY ERRATIC CHOICES IN PROJECTS SINCE WINNING THE OSCAR.

“What energizes me about my career is that factor of daring to take a risk that nobody thinks or expects you to do, but you do it anyway. The only way you win big is to risk big. You don’t win big by taking safe bets, but by risking big, because when you risk big that means you’re doing something that’s innovative and that hasn’t been done before. I mean, Monster’s Ball was a risk! I thought that sex scene could end my career, and I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, if people don’t get this, this could be like my Showgirls!’ But I believed in the project enough to take the risk.”

IN YOUR OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH, YOU SPOKE PASSIONATELY ABOUT THE CULTURAL RAMIFICATIONS OF YOUR HISTORIC WIN. DO YOU FEEL RESPONSIBILITY TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN THE ROLES YOU CHOOSE?

“No. The only responsibility I feel is to be the best me I can be, do things that challenge me, continue to push the envelope and work hard. I think that’s the best role model I can be, and I try not to let the weight of all that expectation hunker down on my shoulders.”

DO YOU THINK THE FACT THAT YOU, DENZEL WASHINGTON, JAMIE FOXX AND FOREST WHITAKER HAVE ALL WON OSCARS IN RECENT YEARS IS INDICATIVE OF ANY MAJOR CHANGE IN HOLLYWOOD?

“No one moment changes anything forever, but I think it has opened a few eyes. It’s definitely changed my career. If I can take the good that came directly to me from that night, continue to put out good work and help people start to see me as a woman—not just a black woman—I think that will help all women of color. A lot of people come up to me and say, ‘Because you stood there that night, I believe I can make my dreams come true.’ So I think it has inspired people, but did it change something magically? No.”

DO YOU FEEL PRESSURE TO BE A ROLE MODEL FOR OTHERS, KNOWING THAT CRITICS AND FANS WATCH YOU SO CLOSELY?

“Not to get too spiritual, but I feel really lucky and blessed that I get to have this career, to make a living doing something that just feels like play and silliness. I think it’s important to give back, and I know many people resist being a role model. I hear other actors say, ‘I’m not a role model,’ and that parents are your real role models. In a perfect world, that would be great, but that’s just not the reality. Kids look to people that they can identify with, and I’ve always taken that responsibility seriously. I take it to heart the best I can and try to do things because I know they’re watching, but I try not to let that compromise my sense of being who I am at the same time.”

HOW DID GETTING YOUR STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME COMPARE TO WINNING THE OSCAR?

“It was another profound moment in my career. After the Oscar, I wasn’t so sure I would ever have another one, and I was surprised that I found myself standing up there on the verge of tears, because I’m an emotional train-wreck. So I found myself really moved, feeling proud and knowing that while it seemed like a simple star in the ground, it also represented Hollywood history and the fact that I was a part of it. Not to mention that my star is right in the entrance of the Kodak Theatre, which is a piece of prime real estate, so it wasn’t a bad day.”

YOU SEEM MORE FULFILLED THAN EVER THESE DAYS. TO WHAT WOULD YOU ATTRIBUTE THAT HAPPINESS?

“I’m just in a really good place in my life, and I can honestly say it’s not because of anything in particular. It’s not because I have a really cute boyfriend now. It’s not because my career is in a good place. It’s because I feel good about me and, if any one of those things should dissipate, I’d still be happy. That feels like a really good place to finally have arrived to.”

HOW DID IT FEEL WHEN YOU HIT THAT 40-YEAR-OLD MILESTONE?

“It was really magical because I felt like I had the right to say what I wanted to say and not accept what I didn’t want to accept. I felt more self-assured and more confident, and I felt like half my life is probably over now and thus I have the right to really be authentically who I want to be.”