Halle Berry Says Winning an Oscar Didn’t Change Her Career
By Alexus Mosley
When Halle Berry became the first Black woman to win Best Actress at the 2001 Oscars for Monster’s Ball, many expected her career to skyrocket overnight. But according to the actress, that moment, while historic, didn’t bring the industry shift she once imagined.
In a recent interview with The Cut, Berry shared that she assumed major opportunities would follow her Oscar win. “I thought there was going to be, like, a script truck showing up outside my front door,” she said. Instead, she found that systemic barriers in Hollywood remained unchanged.
“While I was wildly proud of it, I was still Black that next morning,” Berry explained, recalling how studios questioned whether casting a Black woman would alter a film’s marketability, especially overseas.
That reality shaped the advice she later gave fellow nominee Cynthia Erivo, which was that awards can’t be the validation. Berry has since learned to separate trophies from self-worth, famously even accepting her Razzie for Catwoman with humor and grace.