Amazon MGM Studios/Merrick Morton
For all the progress that Hollywood had made in recent decades in terms of diversity and opportunity, the breadth and depth of roles for actresses over 50 remains scarce, even for the likes of a bonafide legend such Halle Berry, whose both a historic Oscar-winning actress and a generation-defining movie star/sex symbol (and has also found a way to reinvent herself as something of an action star in recent years).
Speaking to BroBible ahead of the release of her new film Crime 101, Halle Berry — who stars in the film as Sharon Coombs, a longtime agent from an elite insurance company — detailed how a storyline about her character’s age relates to her experience in Hollywood over the last decade or so.
Particularly, given there’s a scene in the film where Berry’s character imparts wisdom on a younger female co-worker, the Oscar-winning actress detailed the advice she would have given herself a decade ago if given the opportunity.
Halle Berry on how her role in Crime 101 has similarities to her actual decades-long career in Hollywood
ERIC ITALIANO, BROBIBLE: Halle, there’s a plot line in this film about your character’s age that I imagine feels very close to home to the work you do in real life. In the film, your character gives advice to a younger co-worker. If you could give your younger self advice about navigating this job for the last 10 or 15 years, what would you say?
HALLE BERRY: I’d tell her to start speaking up sooner. I didn’t realize 20 years ago that I had the voice I have now. I was drinking the Kool-Aid, like a lot of women, and thought I had to accept my station — accept where people placed me. I didn’t have the courage to speak up for myself. Today, I do. I have zero Fs to give anymore. You reach a certain age and realize you have agency. You have a right to feel the way you feel and a right to call out bullshit when it’s in front of you. I didn’t always know that. If I had known 20 years ago — oh my God.
BROBIBLE: Your roles over the last decade really seem to reflect that.
HALLE BERRY: Yeah. When I read a script, beyond asking if I want to see the movie, I ask if I can really lend something to the character. Sometimes I read great parts and know immediately, this is great, but I can’t play this. Not every actor can play every part, and we’re crazy to think we can. I gravitate toward characters I relate to and fundamentally understand. As I’ve grown over the last 10 years, those are the characters I choose.
Alongside the Oscar-winning Halle Berry, Crime 101, which will be released in movie theaters on Friday, February 13, also stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Nick Nolte.
You can check out the official trailer for Crime 101 below.