Halle Berry Opens Up About Struggling to Land Roles Despite Her Oscar: ‘There Weren’t Scripts Written’ for Women of Color

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Halle Berry opened up about how winning an Oscar for her lead role in 2002’s Monster’s Ball impacted her career, revealing that not much actually changed.

Berry joined Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes for Monday’s edition of their podcast SmartLess, during which Arnett asked her about becoming the first Black woman to win an Oscar for best actress.

Arnett noted that Berry won the Oscar for best actress after portraying Dorothy Dandridge, the first Black woman to be nominated for the award, in HBO’s Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.

“That was really surreal. I felt like in some way … there was a mission there that I was carrying out,” she said. “There was something that I was finishing. There was business that I had to sort of finish for her. I always felt a kindred spirit to her in some way. Probably being a little girl watching her as a kid, seeing myself reflected — I always saw myself in her in that strange way.”

Bateman went on to ask how winning the Academy Award impacted her acting career, noting that at the beginning of her career, she was working on commercials and movies at the same time.

“All the scripts that came in, I bet they were all director-driven,” Bateman asked of movie opportunities she had following her Oscar win in 2002, questioning if there was pressure to focus on “fancy” roles.

Berry quickly poured cold water on that theory, revealing that “no scripts came in.”

“Literally nothing changed. Like the script truck didn’t back up to my front door,” she said.

“The truth is, there was still no way for people of color. There weren’t scripts written for us in that way,” Berry continued. “That was on the level of what my talent had risen to. They just weren’t out there. We just weren’t thought of in that way.”

Berry pointed to Nicole Kidman, noting that winning an Oscar probably led to a different reality for the Australian actress and producer.

“I didn’t get offered all these wonderful scripts with great directors, and yet I had an expectation to only do award-winning performances,” she added, calling that reality “frustrating.”

Bateman highlighted how Berry still became a trailblazer following her win and opened up doors for other women of color in the industry.

“If you look at our evolution from 20 years ago until now, Black women are everywhere,” Berry agreed, adding, “I do think that moment inspired many people to think different.”

Listen above, via SmartLess.