Halle Berry names the most challenging role of her career: “I don’t know how I’m going to pull this off”
Considering which roles were most challenging for Halle Berry is an intriguing exercise. Immediate contenders include Leticia Musgrove in Marc Forster’s intense Monster’s Ball, the activist Nina in Bulworth, or even her much-maligned portrayal of Patience Phillips in Catwoman. However, according to Berry, her most difficult role was a complex, multifaceted one in a lesser-known 2007 thriller directed by Glengarry Glen Ross director James Foley.
When Berry signed up to play the role of journalist Rowena Price, she had just turned 40. Instead of feeling insecure about getting older in Hollywood or dwelling on her divorce from songwriter Eric Benét, though, she revealed that she felt more self-assured and self-confident than ever before. “I felt like half my life is probably over now,” Berry told Female magazine, “And thus had the right to really be authentically who I want to be and say what I want to say, and not accept what didn’t feel right.”
This refreshed perspective on life may have influenced Berry’s decision to take on the role in Foley’s Perfect Stranger. Playing Price was no simple task, as the reporter had to go undercover to uncover the truth behind a case. Throughout her investigation, she assumed multiple aliases to expose a wealthy businessman as the killer of her childhood friend.
At that time in her life, Berry considered the challenge of playing Price well worth taking on. She revealed, “I love a character that gives me a chance to grow and do something different, and Rowena was so multifaceted. I never played a character that played a character who played a character, and that gave me a chance, as an artist, to stretch my limits and challenge myself.”
Interestingly, Berry experienced something many actors go through when they encounter a script with a particularly complex role: she didn’t quite know how she planned to execute the part. In fact, she found herself feeling intimidated by it, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from giving it her best shot. Berry explained, “I thought, ‘Wow, I don’t know how I’m going to pull this off.’ But if I can’t, then at least I’m going to go down trying because that’s how impassioned I was about it.”
Ultimately, Berry’s gamble didn’t pay off. Perfect Stranger was critically savaged, with Berry, co-star Bruce Willis, and director Foley receiving flak from all corners. However, it did return $10million more than its budget at the box office, so it wasn’t a complete disaster. Berry’s post-40 philosophy wouldn’t allow her to worry too much about how the movie turned out, though.
She explained: “I know every time, for good or for bad, I give 100% of what I have to give. I make choices based on what’s happening in my life at that moment, what I’m most needing to do; sometimes for personal reasons, sometimes for the art of it.”
By adopting this perspective on her career, Berry felt she was making decisions for the right reasons, and this meant she could “live with that at night, no matter what the outcome of the project.”
