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4[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Halle_Berry_8914.jpg]]
5
6Halle Maria Berry (born August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American actress from UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}}.
7
8While she's considered one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood (to the point that she was frequently brought up any time a black man in 1990s/2000s fiction needed a CelebCrush), Berry has a legacy of being a well-rounded actress on her own merits, with her roles ranging from slapstick comedy to gritty drama to romance to action to sci-fi.
9
10She began her career as a model and transitioned into acting in the early 1990s. She won several awards (including a [[MediaNotes/EmmyAward Primetime Emmy]] and MediaNotes/{{Golden Globe}}) for the Creator/{{HBO}} biopic ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge'', and in 2001 became the first black woman and woman of color to win the [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActressInALeadingRole Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her role in ''Film/MonstersBall''. She later became one of the highest-paid Hollywood actresses of the 2000s, although her films have seen varied critical and commercial reception.
11
12Berry has some notoriety among comic book fans, as while her portrayal of [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]] in the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' was divisive, her performance as ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} in [[Film/Catwoman2004 the 2004 live-action film]] was universally panned. [[GracefulLoser She has been a good sport about the latter role, however.]] After winning the UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Actress for the role, she became the second actor (after Creator/TomGreen) to accept her Razzie in person in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-7s_yeQuDg what is now one of the most memorable moments in the ceremony's history]]. She accepted the Razzie in one hand while carrying her Oscar in the other, [[SelfDeprecation parodied her emotional Oscar acceptance speech]] by starting her Razzie speech in exaggerated hysterics, and "thanked" Creator/WarnerBros, her manager, her acting coach, the rest of the film's cast, and the film's director Pitof, calling ''Catwoman'' "a piece-of-shit godawful movie". She then ended the speech by sincerely explaining that she was accepting the award as a testament to her mother's values of not being a sore loser and accepting criticism, and received a standing ovation from the audience.
13
14Not to be confused with Halle Bailey of Music/ChloeXHalle and ''Film/TheLittleMermaid2023'' fame.
15----
16!!Filmography:
17
18[[AC:{{Advertising}}]]
19* Revlon Spokesperson
20
21[[AC:{{Film}}]]
22* ''Film/JungleFever'' (1991)
23* ''Film/TheLastBoyScout'' (1991)
24* ''Film/{{Boomerang|1992}}'' (1992)
25* ''Film/TheFlintstones'' (1994)
26* ''Film/LosingIsaiah'' (1995)
27* ''Film/ExecutiveDecision'' (1996)
28* ''Film/TheRichMansWife'' (1996)
29* ''Film/{{Bulworth}}'' (1998)
30* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' as [[ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}} Ororo Munroe / Storm]]:
31** ''Film/XMen1'' (2000)
32** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' (2003)
33** ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' (2006)
34** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' (2014)
35* ''Film/{{Swordfish}}'' (2001)
36* ''Film/MonstersBall'' (2001)
37* ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' (2002)
38* ''Film/{{Gothika}}'' (2003)
39* ''Film/Catwoman2004'' (2004)
40* ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'' (2005) (voice)
41* ''Literature/TheirEyesWereWatchingGod'' (2005)
42* ''Film/PerfectStranger'' (2007)
43* ''Film/NewYearsEve'' (2011)
44* ''Film/CloudAtlas'' (2012)
45* ''Film/Movie43'' (2013)
46* ''Film/TheCall'' (2013)
47* ''Film/{{Kidnap}}'' (2017)
48* ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'' (2017)
49* ''Film/{{Kings|2017}}'' (2017)
50* ''Film/JohnWickChapter3Parabellum'' (2019)
51* ''Bruised'' (2021) -- [[https://variety.com/2018/film/news/halle-berry-bruised-directorial-debut-1202936949/ directorial debut]], also [[DirectedByCastMember starring]]
52* ''Film/{{Moonfall}}'' (2022)
53
54[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
55* ''Series/{{Amen}}''
56* ''Series/{{Queen}}'' (A 1993 MiniSeries based on the life of Alex Haley's paternal grandmother)
57* ''Living Dolls''
58* ''Series/{{Extant}}''
59
60[[AC:{{Magazines}}]]
61* Former model and pageant winner
62
63[[AC:Music Videos]]
64* Appeared as a cameo in [[Music/MissyElliott Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott]]'s 2002 music video, "Work It".
65* Appeared in the Music/LimpBizkit video "Behind Blue Eyes", where she made out with Fred Durst, whom she was rumored to be dating at the time.
66
67----
68!!Her roles provide examples of:
69
70* AbilityOverAppearance: The role of Sharon Stone in ''Film/TheFlintstones'' was written for [[Creator/SharonStone the lady herself]], who turned it down. Other white actresses were considered before Halle ultimately won the part.
71%%* ActionGirl
72* ActorSharedBackground:
73** She played a biracial woman in ''Series/{{Queen}}'', and is one herself, though Berry identifies as just Black.
74** She and Dorothy Dandridge were both born in the same hospital in Ohio, and their careers shared many similarities, although Halle was thankfully more successful in what roles she was able to play.
75* AdamWesting: Her Razzie acceptance speech.
76* BeautyInversion: She's often had to 'de-glam' for serious roles.
77** To achieve her desired look as a homeless crack addict in ''Film/JungleFever'' she didn't bathe for two weeks. Spike Lee even refused her an audition at first until she offered to do it without her makeup on.
78** ''Film/MonstersBall'' has her looking tired and with an unflattering hairstyle, with the scenes leaning more towards FanDisservice.
79** ''Bruised'' has her similarly looking tired and frequently sporting facial bruises, as well as emphasising that she's an alcoholic.
80* BoyishShortHair: She became known for her short pixie hairstyle, which she keeps returning to over the years. She even sported it as Storm in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
81* ContractualObligationProject:[[invoked]] As it turns out, ''Film/Catwoman2004'' was this.
82* CostumeBacklash: It turns out she disliked the {{Stripperiffic}} Catwoman costume as much as everyone else, first finding it too tight and uncomfortable, and the top kept coming off.
83* CoveredInGunge: At the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2012.
84%%* DamselInDistress: For the majority of ''Series/{{Queen}}''.
85* DirectedByCastMember: She directs and plays the lead role in ''Bruised''.
86* FakeNationality: Storm hails from Kenya in the comics. Halle initially used an accent for her, before dropping it from the second film onwards.
87%%* GlamorousWartimeSinger: Dorothy Dandridge in ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''.
88* HalfBreedDiscrimination: Her role in the televised movie role, ''Series/{{Queen}}''.
89* HideYourPregnancy: She was pregnant filming ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' and, while they were able to shoot around it and finish most of her scenes while she could still fit into the costume, a lot more action scenes had to be cut. [[spoiler: Storm is the first one killed off in the final battle because of this]].
90* HilariousInHindsight:[[invoked]] Halle played Creator/DorothyDandridge (the first African-American actress to be nominated for an "Best Actress Oscar" for her role as the title character in ''Film/CarmenJones'') in the HBO movie ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''. Halle later would become the first African-American actress to ''win'' a "Best Actress Oscar" for her performance in ''Film/MonstersBall''.
91* MoneyDearBoy:[[invoked]]
92** The press loved to talk about how she was paid $10,000 to flash her breasts in ''{{Film/Swordfish}}'' for no real reason (although she did say that the scene was in the script and was told it was "not negotiable" to be taken out).
93** Subverted in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', where she was initially demanding a higher paycheck. Then ''Catwoman'' happened and her salary was much smaller than she had originally asked.
94* MsFanservice: She began her career as a model and often was pigeonholed into these sexy roles, with directors and producers often unable to see her in anything more serious. While she has been able to play more substantial parts, she's continued to be this well into her fifties.
95* MemeticMutation: [[invoked]] Caused by how easily her name and R&B singer Creator/HalleBailey's can be confused, especially after Bailey was cast in the lead role in the live action remake of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989''.
96* NonSingingVoice: Wendi Williams provides the singing for her in ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''.
97* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: She used an attempt at an African accent in ''Film/XMen1'' but given that it wasn't very good, she just used her own voice for the other films.
98* OlderThanTheyLook: If you didn’t know her birthdate, you’d easily mistake her for someone who’s in her 30s.
99* OnSetInjury: Robert Downey Jr broke her arm during the interrogation scene in ''{{Film/Gothika}}'', halting production for eight weeks.
100* RealLifeWritesThePlot:[[invoked]] Due to her pregnancy in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' [[spoiler: Storm is given a sudden death as the first casualty in the battle with the Sentinels - as they had to hurriedly shoot all her scenes while Halle could still fit into her costume]].
101* RomanceOnTheSet: She met and started a relationship with her French husband-to-be Olivier Martinez on the set of ''Dark Tide''.
102* TheRunnerUpTakesItAll: She was Miss Ohio in the 1986 Miss USA pageant and was the first runner up for the Miss USA title. Her later success speaks for itself.
103* StarDerailingRole: ''Catwoman'' notoriously reduced her salary for ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', cancelled a spinoff centered around her ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' character Jinx, and resulted in a sort-of hiatus for Berry's film career that wasn't helped by the failures of ''{{Film/Gothika}}'' and the poor reception to her character in ''Film/DieAnotherDay''. These days she mostly laughs about it.
104%%* UncleTomfoolery: Her role in ''Baps'' qualifies.
105* WagTheDirector:
106** A positive example. ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge'' ran over budget and they were going to cut the red carpet scene at the end. Halle however loved the scene and wanted it kept in, so she paid for it herself.
107** By the time of ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', she wanted more scenes/lines and so they expanded on Storm's relationship with Nightcrawler and had the sequence of her using funnel clouds against planes chasing the X-Jet.
108** In ''Film/XMenLastStand'', she requested to fly more, since she hadn't got the chance to in the previous films.
109* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
110** [[invoked]] A spin-off centered around her ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' character Jinx was in the works, but quickly cancelled after ''Catwoman'' failed.
111** Angela Basset turned down the role of Leticia in ''Film/MonstersBall'' that Halle would win the Best Actress Oscar for, not wanting to play a prostitute (although other sources say she wasn't asked because she was already committed to ''Supernova''). Vanessa Williams also turned it down because of the nudity required.
112** She announced in 2020 that she was looking into playing a trans male character, but quickly backed down upon widespread criticism on the UnfortunateImplications of such a casting.
113** She turned down the lead role in ''{{Film/Gigli}}'', which became a major BoxOfficeBomb and is considered one of the worst movies ever made.
114** After her directorial debut ''Bruised'', she expressed a desire to remake the ''Catwoman'' movie now with her as a director. And in the former, it was originally to be directed by Nick Cassavetes and star Blake Lively, before Halle took over both roles.

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