Halle Berry Says Winning Her 2002 Oscar 'Did Not Necessarily Change the Course' of Her Career Virginia ChamleeFebruary 4, 2026 at 4:06 AM 0 Halle Berry accept her Oscar for Best performance by an actress in a leading role during the 74th Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood 24 March 2002. TIMOTHY A.
- - Halle Berry Says Winning Her 2002 Oscar 'Did Not Necessarily Change the Course' of Her Career
Virginia ChamleeFebruary 4, 2026 at 4:06 AM
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Halle Berry accept her Oscar for Best performance by an actress in a leading role during the 74th Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood 24 March 2002.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty
Halle Berry says winning an Academy Award didn't exactly change her career
Berry won Best Actress in 2002 for her role in Monster's Ball
She also made history as the first first Black actress to win an Oscar in the Best Actress category
Halle Berry says winning an Academy Award in 2002 for her role in Monster's Ball — and making history as the first first Black actress to win an Oscar in the Best Actress category — didn't exactly change her career.
In an interview with The Cut, the 59-year-old actress said of her win, "That Oscar didn't necessarily change the course of my career."
"After I won it, I thought there was going to be, like, a script truck showing up outside my front door. While I was wildly proud of it, I was still Black that next morning," Berry added. "Directors were still saying, 'If we put a Black woman in this role, what does this mean for the whole story? Do I have to cast a Black man? Then it's a Black movie. Black movies don't sell overseas.'"
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Halle Berry
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Berry also told the outlet she has spoken to Cynthia Erivo – who was nominated for Oscars in 2020 for Harriet and again in 2025, forWicked — about the award.
"'You goddamn deserve it, but I don't know that it's going to change your life. It cannot be the validation for what you do, right?'" Berry said she told Erivo, 39.
Halle Berry
Mike Marsland/WireImage
Berry, who will next star in the film, Crime 101, remains the only Black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Speaking on Trevor Noah's What Now? podcast in 2025, Berry reflected on her history-making Oscars win, noting that she felt she was "chosen" to "open that door" at the time.
"I knew it was bigger than me," she said. "I was, in that moment, [destined] to be a beacon of possibility. And I do think it served that purpose."
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Crime 101 hits theaters on Feb. 13.
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Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: February 03, 2026 at 10:45PM on Source: RED MAG
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