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Halle Berry Interviews
You can't please everyone
 After years of struggling in the sidelines, Halle Berry finally made her mark. The first woman of colour to win a best actress Oscar - for the harrowing drama Monster's Ball - she'll be back later this year in the eagerly-awaited Catwoman.Was Gothika as scary to make as it looks?
HB: "It was creepy rather than scary! At the end of the day we all know it's a movie and this stuff isn't really happening. But it was a little creepy to be in dark, dungeon-type places where you knew real death had taken place. It was always very cold, and there was just some element in the air that made us feel like we weren't truly alone where we were shooting."
Did you ever wish you were making a musical or a comedy instead?
HB: "No, I loved the three months we spent making a horror movie. It was a great departure for me because I've never worked in this genre before. I was tempted to go back and watch The Shining and some of those really great thrillers, but I resisted because this has to be a film that stands on its own. I enjoyed the experience - it was really cathartic for me at the end of the day, most movies are. I've also grown as an actor as I've gotten older in life; I've learned how to go to work, immerse myself 100 per cent in a character, and then at the end of the day take it all off. And that feels good."
You get thrown around a lot in Gothika. Did you injure yourself?
HB: "On Gothika I had a broken arm. It was in a scene that didn't involve any stunts; Robert Downey Jr just twisted my arm the wrong way and it broke. It was one of those freaky accidents that happened while making this odd movie, one of the strange things that happened. So we had to stop filming for eight weeks while I had a full-blown cast on. After that it was reduced to a small very thin cast from my wrist to my elbow, and I finished the movie with that little cast on."
Was it the same arm that your character injures during the film?
HB: "No, it was the other arm! But we thought it would be a good camouflage; people would think it was the arm that was bandaged, so they never really looked at the other arm and I think a lot of people missed the cast. There are a few places where you can see it, but nobody seems to have noticed it."
Do you feel any pressure being a successful and highly visible African-American woman?
HB: "It's not so much the pressure, but I do take it very seriously. I know other people of colour are watching, and maybe it inspires them to achieve their goals and realise their dreams. But I don't get so bogged down with it that it becomes a pressure. I'm only one human being and I'm only making one tiny contribution."
A lot of people have commented on your revealing costume in Catwoman...
HB: "I love the look of the film; it's modern, it's edgy and it's very much reflective of the 21st century and who women are today. As for the controversy… you can't please everyone. As I've gotten older, I've learned to accept that and take things with a grain of salt."
Have you ever watched your Oscar acceptance speech?
HB: "I've watched it two times since that night, mainly because I was so out of body that I couldn't remember what I said. I felt I talked too long, and I wish I could have edited it. But I also felt it was a great moment in my life, and I knew it was about more than me. So I thought, maybe it was OK the way it was."
Where do you keep your Academy Award?
HB: "It's at home, but he moves all around the house depending on my mood. Some days he's on the kitchen table, some days he's in the bathroom, some days he's in the living room. I like to move him around. He's always near..."
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