Halle Berry is one of the most successful actresses in the business today. She has starred in many serious films as well as other feel-good movies. She is a critically-acclaimed actress, earning her praises and numerous acting awards including an Oscar and Golden Globe. But she has had her career mistakes, like her decision to pass up the starring role in “Speed” where it made waves in her replacement Sandra Bullock’s career. And of course, her role in “Catwoman”, where she received a Razzie Worst Actress award in 2004 after winning the Academy Award for Best Actress just a few years back. She has also turned down a role for the movie “Waiting To Exhale”. But still, because of her awards, she is taken as a very serious actress and capable of portraying diverse roles, even if some roles do not utilize her sexy image, adding to her credibility as not just a beautiful actress, but a talented one as well.
Of course, with Halle’s body, producers and directors can’t help but take advantage of that and use it in some of her movies. In the live-action adaptation of the cartoon “Flintstones”, she played a sultry secretary who seduces Fred Flintstone. In the “X-Men” trilogy, she displays her body in Storm’s skin-tight costume. And in “Swordfish”, she shot her first nude scene, a brief flash of her breasts in a topless sunbathing scene. She has previously turned down offers to go nude but when Warner Bros. Substantially raised her fee, she accepted. Her then-husband Eric Benet also lent his support and encouragement to the actress.
When she played a Bond Girl in “Die Another Day”, she recreated a very famous scene from “Dr. No”, bursting from the surf to be greeted by James Bond as Ursula Andress did 40 years earlier. The actress wore a bikini and a knife and the scene was very “splashy”, “sexy”, “exciting” and “provocative”, according to Halle. Further, the scene highlighted Halle’s perfect curves and oozing sex appeal. She also said her role was “fashion-forward modern and the next step in the evolution of women in the Bond movies.” But in 2001, she shocked critics and viewers alike in her award-winning movie “Monster’s Ball”.
In the movie, she portrayed the wife of an executed murderer. She performed a love scene with co-star Billie Bob Thornton’s racist character. The sex scene was controversial, both for its graphic nature and its racial implications. But the scene was not cut, the movie won praises, and Halle went on to win Best Actress honors at the Academy Awards, giving every person of color a chance in the process. The NAACP issued a statement, “Congratulations to Halle Berry and Denzel Washington for giving us hope and making us proud. If this is a sign that Hollywood is finally ready to give opportunity and judge performance based on skill and not on skin color then it is a good thing.”
She has also portrayed another sexually charged character in the TV movie “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, in which she played Janie Crawford, a free-spirited woman whose sexual mores upset her conventional contemporaries in a small community set in the 1920s. And as “Catwoman”, she again displayed her sexy body in the character’s tight leather costume. Although the movie bombed, she was again able to showcase her sex appeal in the film.
Halle Berry has proved time and again that her beauty is just another aspect in her successful acting career. She relies more on her determination to succeed and total dedication to her craft than in her sexy body for her various achievements in the movie business. She continues to aspire for perfection in every role she plays and on April 3, 2007, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the film industry.