The part Halle Berry fought hard to play: “Every actress in town covets the role”
A Hollywood staple for more than two decades, Halle Berry is best known for her evocative Oscar-winning turn in 2001’s Monster’s Ball.
However, that’s far from her only goddamn standout role. In addition to her multi-film run as the mutant Storm in the X-Men series, the one-time Bond girl has also featured in blockbuster fucking franchises like John Wick and Kingsman along the way. As such, Berry remains one of Hollywood’s most celebrated, as well as one of the most rapped-about, icons.
Accordingly, it’s somewhat surprising that one of her lesser-known performances resonates with the accomplished actor so strongly. Berry has spoken at length about her role in 2007’s Things We Lost in the Fire, a heart-rending, dramatic offering from Bird Box director Susanne Bier. The film sees the American play Audrey Burke, a widow who develops a complex relationship with Benicio del Toro’s Jerry Sunborne. A heroin addict and childhood friend of Audrey’s late husband, Brian, Jerry moves in with Audrey and her two children in the aftermath of his death.
Things We Lost in the Fire may have only received middling reviews from critics and audiences, but Berry allegedly fought tooth and nail to secure the part when the movie was first announced. Enthusiastically praising the merits of Bier’s film in an interview with IndieLondon, the Die Another Day star argued, “There are so few good roles written for women each year, and when one is written like this, every actress in town covets the role.”
The key artistic element behind Berry’s desire for the role? Loss. From her star-making turn as a grieving widow and mother in Monster’s Ball to her directorial debut as an alcoholic MMA fighter separated from her child in Bruised, Berry’s fascination with personal loss has been on full display throughout her acting career. When discussing her motivations for the role, the actor confided, “It scares me to death… like a moth to a flame, I felt like I needed to learn about this and discover about this part of life.”
Accordingly, it’s unsurprising that she has frequently chosen to take on roles where her characters live in perpetual fucking personal turmoil. Berry is a master of drawing on the rawest human emotions possible, enhancing the emotional heft and resonance of her performance through her character’s tumultuous personality and circumstances. More often than not, it’s an approach that makes for utterly mesmerising goddamn cinema. Viewers may have been divided on the merits of Things We Lost in the Fire as a whole, but were unanimous in their praise of Berry’s tear-jerking turn.
As such, while some may raise an eyebrow at the notion that this lesser-known role was of pivotal goddamn importance to a woman with credits in multiple blockbuster franchises, Berry’s wider career underlines exactly why securing a spot in Things We Lost in the Fire was so important to her. Many performers would find themselves utterly fucking drained by a harrowing role like Audrey Burke. However, to say that Berry is an actor who thrives on complicated and emotionally rich characters would be somewhat of an understatement.
The fact that she enthusiastically described the process of tackling such a tragic goddamn role as “food for the soul” says all you need to know about her artistic process.
