Halle Berry - Interviews

Interview

TAKING A BREAK DURING FILMING

Two years after her historic Oscar win for Monster's Ball, Halle Berry has confirmed her position as one of the world's top female movie stars. Since her Academy Award win however, we've only caught glimpses of her in Die Another Day and X-Men 2, but with no less than six projects in various stages of development, it looks like her fans are in for a treat over the next couple of years. The first of these projects is Gothika, a psychological horror story which has performed exceedingly well in the States, and on a promotional tour of London Berry discusses her new film, how Robert Downey Jr broke her arm, her own experiences of the paranormal and the pressures she feels as a contemporary black icon.

In Gothika, Berry plays Miranda Grey, a prison psychologist who finds herself behind bars when she is accused of a number of senseless killings. Co-starring Downey Jr and Penelope Cruz, Berry admits that the terror of the film spilled over on to the set. "I felt creepy making it," she admits. "But creepy more than scared. We filmed in lots of dark dungeon-like places, and we never really felt that we were truly alone." The atmosphere reminded her of her breakthrough role in the TV film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, when she was convinced the spirit of the Hollywood actress was around her. "I knew when we filmed that that her spirit was around. Nothing dramatic happened, but we all felt it."

Berry doesn't attribute occult influences on her broken arm that stopped the shooting of Gothika for eight weeks. "Robert Downey twisted my arm and it broke," she says with a laugh. "It was a freak accident but we're good friends." She also admits that the filming of Gothika was unconventional by Hollywood standards. "The script changed all the time. Mathieu (Kassovitz, the French director) and all of the actors contributed, but we had no rehearsals so we had to hit the ground running."

Berry is aware of her position as a black icon, but shrugs off the inevitable pressures. "I take it seriously and I know there are people of colour watching, but I don't get bogged down in it." And she admits to rewatching her infamous Oscar speech when she broke down at the ceremony. "I have watched it a couple of times since, it was such an out of body experience that I wanted to see what I looked like."

And with that it's time for her to jet back home to Los Angeles for a short rest between filming. "I just finished Catwoman last night," she says, and deflects any negative criticism from internet fans." Well, I love the look," she laughs, referring to the pre-publicity shots of her in a catsuit. "I think it's modern and edgy, but then again you can't please everybody!"