Halle Berry says she thinks she's 'ugly'

Knight Ridder ^

[Pokey78]

Halle Berry solidified her place as one of the world's sexiest women with her role as Bond girl Jinx in "Die Another Day."

But the Oscar-winning actress (Monster's Ball) says she still doesn't see herself as a beautiful star.

"To be totally honest, most of the time I think I'm ugly," she told the German magazine Journal fur die Frau. "I see myself without makeup every morning and that's why I don't have illusions anymore. I certainly don't feel like a big star."

Berry added that being black still hinders her progress in Hollywood.

"For many film studios and directors skin color remains a problem. They don't believe that the audience will accept a black actor in the main role. These narrow-minded people underestimate the public and prevent advancement in the industry."

Berry's next film will be "X-2," the sequel to "X-Men" slated for a May 2 release.

[AppyPappy]

I just love when these ultra-rich Hollywood stars "share" their pain

< /sarcasm >

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

How many times do I gotta tell you? DO NOT TAP ON THE GLASS.

[Jael]

The black people in my family look black and are proud of that. And they look nothing like Halle Berry, who has extreme and surgically enhanced Caucasian features. I have seen photos of her when she was younger and did look more like the race she uses for publicity. :-)

[csvset]

Her nudes scenes added nothing to the film and her acting skills didn't impress me, but that's me.

I saw her years ago in B.A.P.S and it doesn't seem that her acting skills have improved much since then, despite her having won an Oscar.

[MarkL]

Agreed. I think that she is quite a good actress. Although I thought that the story of "Saving Issia" was terrible, I thought that she was quite good in it, as with "Monsters Ball." She really does have quite a range as an actress, and as I said, I thought that she was good in X-Men, just not what I had envisioned.

I think that maybe she's taking the "victim" role a bit too seriously, as it seems, do so many in Hollywood. I don't seem to recall Sidney Poirtier going off about how many roles he didn't get as a Black Man. Same with Samual L. Jackson, or Morgan Freeman. I think that it's getting pretty lame. There's nothing stopping a good actor who happens to be black from getting good roles (at least I don't think so). The problem is that there simply aren't that many good roles out there any more. If you want to see some wondeful acting, check out "Glory," with Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. I can easily see an actor of Morgan Freeman's quality playing the President of the US (which I believe that he did in one movie). Same with Sidney Portier or James Earl Jones. Or Denzel Washington as Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Or other terrific black actors? How about Keith David, from "Platoon," "Article 99," and about a zillion other movies. Or Yaphet Koto. Want to see some great acting? Check him out in "Brubaker." Or Courtney B. Vance, who played "Jonesy" in Hunt for "Red October" (I certainly never thought of that character as black, did anyone else?) or as "Doc" in "Hamburger Hill." And speaking of "Hamburger Hill," that was some fine ensomble acting from all of the cast members, black and white.

So, maybe there is a lack of leading roles for black men and women: If that's really the case, then the problem is with the Hollywood, liberal elite who decide who to cast in the roles.

Mark

[wardaddy]

Was Jael suspended for the two comments on this page?

They sure did not look to me like they came even close to the benchmark.

[wardaddy]

You look more like Uncle Sam on steroids to me on your Profile Page....with a neat pet and nice choice in home protection devices.

Happy Easter.


Where did Jael go?...did I miss something?

[wardaddy]

Actually Sidney Portier has whined quite a bit....he is a good actor though and unlike Halle, he truly did have obstacles to overcome.

Morgan Freeman...is a great example of how all actors should act....black or white or yellow or whatever.....WITH DIGNITY and GOOD MANNERS.

OF course....he is from Mississippi(the Delta no less) so I'm partial.

[Chad Fairbanks]

You made a gay joke... I get it. Tee hee ;0)

[wardaddy]

Tu Tu Bem.

Is your wife Brasilain or are you?

My ex is a Carioca...we have 2 daughters.

Happy Easter...Felis Paqua(sic)

[mhking]

She wasn't raised black, and she couldn't even pass for black.

Oh, please. Spare me. Then come back when you have a clue.

[cyborg]

As a lady myself, I will definately avoid men if I am alone. I live in a predominantely black/hispanic neighborhood. I know where to walk by myself and where not to go after sundown ya know what I mean?

---
Just accept who you are, and accept your social handicap (whether it be baldness, race, gender, disability, disfiguring features, etc.).
---

HOW TRUE.

[mhking]

If you want to confine blacks who look black to that kind of language, go right ahead.

And by the way -- you were the one with the definitions, not I. As I tell the "soul patrol" regularly -- "No one else, least of all you, are in a position to tell me whether I'm black or not."

And quite frankly....no, on second thought, I'm not going to go down that path; I've got too much pride to wallow in the mud.

[mhking]

Suddenly, I have this image of you performing a scene with a brillo pad, reminicent of the shower scene in 'The Crying Game'..

I didn't need that image in my mind...I need steel wool to scour that picture out....

[mhking]

I have seen photos of her when she was younger and did look more like the race she uses for publicity.

I'll remember that the next time I see any black person who has had plastic surgery.

Feh. You're full of used food.

[mhking]

My hero is responding to my post?! I am so honored. This is almost as awesome as getting to talk to Rush a while back. I wish there was a Project 21 in my area. The boys are wayward, smart but no fatherly guidance.

[blush]

I'm just another guy riding a keyboard, but I thank ya...

Perhaps YOU could be Project 21 in your area....give me a holler if you want to talk about it...

[cyborg]

Happy Easter to you too!

Thandie Newton is cute. I think that identity politics plays a lot into what roles people get. Many are really insistent on saying their black, so they get 'black'roles. Jennifer Beals gets a lot of white and biracial female roles, and so Vin Diesel and Keanu Reeves. I guess this nothing compared to Tiger Woods who had to have a press conference over his identity.

[Anamensis]

I hate to say it, but I don't think she passed for black very successfully in Monster's Ball either. I remember particularly when she says "I'm finta lose my house!" it just didn't sound natural. There was something about her voice that just sounded like a white person trying to talk black.

And the scene just before she and the repulsive Billy Bob start going at it, the whole drunken speech about the red curtains just didn't run with me at all. Everything about her screamed "trying too hard."

[cyborg]

Maybe. I will look into it. Maybe I will pass on the info to some men who really should do the job.

[cyborg]

Identity politics is something else. I stopped getting into these kind of discussions uptil now. I find most people, esp. a lot of black people I know unfortunately, can't discuss it without getting irrational. I never had a problem with my identity until people started telling me in college that I SHOULD have a problem.