Background Image

...

By The Time I Left School, I Had A Lot Of Tenacity.

-Halle Berry

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

By The Time I

Halle Berry

...

By The Time I Left School, I Had A Lot Of Tenacity.

Views: 79200

Topic

More From Halle Berry

Just To Be True To Myself, Which Is Why I Did This Movie. I Figured Everyone Was Going To Freak Out And Say, 'why Would You Do That After Dorothy Dandridge?' My Answer Is 'because I Can.' And That Feels Really Good To Be Comfortable Saying That.

The Times May Have Changed, But The People Are Still The Same. We're Still Looking For Love, And That Will Always Be Our Struggle As Human Beings.

Most People I Know Of That Mix Have A Real Ability To Be In A Room With Anyone, Black Or White.

Being A Black Woman, I've Often Felt I've Been Judged By My Sex And My Race, And I Have Always Known That It Shouldn't Hamper Me.

If You Really Want To Be Competitive In Today's Market You Have To Be In Movies That Make Money.

I Do Not Love To Work Out, But If I Stick To Exercising Every Day And Put The Right Things In My Mouth, Then My Diabetes Just Stays In Check.

My Partner Is A Frenchman, So I Have Got To Smell Right.

Sexiness Is A State Of Mind - A Comfortable State Of Being. It's About Loving Yourself In Your Most Unlovable Moments.

Loving Yourself

The First Step Is Clearly Defining What It Is You're After, Because Without Knowing That, You'll Never Get It.

When I’m Rested, I’m At My Best.

I Never Even Think About The Physicality Of Roles, Until Honestly I Get The Gig And I Think, 'ok, Now What Do I Have To Do In This One?' Like, I Approach It Thinking More About The Character - Do I Respond To It? Is It Something I Think I Can Play? Does It Seem Like It'll Be Fun?

A Person's Self-esteem Has Nothing To Do With How She Looks.

It's An Amazing Feeling To Know That Life Is Actually Growing Inside Your Body. The First Time You See The Ultrasound And You See The Little Bones And You Realise That It's Part Of You And It's In Your Care Is Life Changing And This Sort Of Protective Instinct Has Taken Over.

Here's The Thing - You Can't Be Careful About What You Pick Because What Looks Like On Paper Is Going To Be A Great Script Has Often Turned Out To Be A Disaster, So There's No Way To Know What's Going To Work Or To Pick The Right Thing.

I Won't Have A Traditional Marriage; I Don't Find The Value In That Anymore. But I Am Such A Hopeless Romantic And I Really Want Love And I Want A Committed Relationship, So I Am Going To Reinvent Marriage For Myself.

My Daughter Doesn't Want To Go To School Because She Knows 'the Men' Are Watching For Her. They Jump Out Of The Bushes And From Behind Cars And Who Knows Where Else, Besieging These Children Just To Get A Photo.

Nature Has Got It All Wrong: When You Are Younger, It Should Be Harder To Get Pregnant, And As You Get Older It Should Be Easier.

Although Some People Will Say It's A Cliché, I Think Not Having Had A Father When I Was Growing Up Affect Me Negatively Because I Didn't Have A Good Role Model To Follow.

I Used To Believe That If My Career Was Going Great, Then I Was Not Entitled To A Great Personal Life. Well, I've Stopped Thinking That Way. I Believe I Can Have It All.

I Am A Hopeless Romantic. And I Won't Stop Till I Get It Right. I Don't Think I'm Unlike A Lot Of People. I Am Just Someone Who Is Trying To Find That Mate, And I Think It's A Really Hard Thing To Do. And I'm Not Willing To Stay Somewhere Where I Am Really Not Happy. And I Am Not Willing To Pretend I Am For The Kid's Sake Or So That I Don't Have To Go Through Another Public Humiliation.

I Am My Best Self When I Have Super Short Hair. That’s When I Feel Most Like Me And Most Confidant.

I'm Not Afraid Of Portraying Anything On-screen

I Chose A Sunflower Because When Darkness Descends They Close Up To Regenerate. But I Really Wish I'd Never Had The Tattoo In The First Place. Clean, Clear Skin Is Always Better.

I Archive A Lot Of My Clothes And Have Them Wrapped Up And In Boxes. I Call Them 'little Tombs' And Keep Them In A Storage Space... I Would Never Get Rid Of The Dress I Wore On The Night I Won My Oscar. When I Die, Someone Can Have It, But Not A Minute Before!

Actors Always Have To Fight For The Good Parts. 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.

There's A Place In Me That Can Really Relate To Being The Underdog.

When A Young Woman Tells Me That She Wants To Become And Actor, I Say, 'no, Be A Writer. Or Go To Business School And Learn How To Run A Studio.' The Only Real Change Will Come From Behind The Scenes.

I've Always Thought That When Anyone Receives An Award For Acting They Should Always Thank Their Fellow Actors, Because The Only Way You're Going To Deliver Your Best Performance Is When You Have Other Good Actors On The Set Supporting You And Being Very Present For You Even When The Camera Is Not On Them.

Blackness Is A State Of Mind And I Identify With The Black Community. Mainly, Because I Realized, Early On, When I Walk Into A Room, People See A Black Woman, They Don't See A White Women. So Out Of That Reason Alone, I Identify More With The Black Community.

As Beautiful As Halle Is On The Outside, She's 10 Times More Beautiful On The Inside.

Beautiful Inside

I Love A Character That Gives Me A Chance To Grow And Do Something Different.

There's A Place In Me That Can Really Relate To Being The Underdog. I'm Always Fighting To Overcome The Obstacle. I Can Really Understand What's That About.

African American

During Really Difficult Times In My Life When I Start Questioning Why I Am Struggling With Something, I Often Turn To Books To Understand Myself Better.

I'd Like To Be Able To Use Storm's Powers For Good, Like Have It Rain More In Southern California. We Could Do With It.

I Don't Know Why, But I Respond Well To Tortured Characters.

My Mother Always Said To Me, 'you're Going To Have To Work Harder And Have To Be Better, And You Can't Take No For An Answer'.

When I Was Younger, Living In An All-black Neighborhood The Other Kids Thought I Was Better Than Them Because Of My Light Skin And Straight Hair. Then We Moved To An All-white Neighborhood And That Was A Culture Shock ... I'd Been Used To Being Around All Black Kids.

I Think My Feet Are My Sexiest Body Part. People I Find Really Sexy Include Angelina Jolie, George Clooney And My Mum.

To Make Lips Look Naturally Pink, I Put On Red Lipstick, Wipe It Off, And Then Apply Clear Gloss.

I Know That There Is A God - The God Within Me That's Always Present And Will Protect Me. I'm Not Afraid To Climb Any Mountain, Because I Know That I'm Protected. Even If I Fall And Die, I'm Still Protected. My Faith Is On That Level.

My Mother Never Wanted Me To Focus On My Physical Self. She Always Said That Beauty Is What You Do.

I Realize As You Age The Less Makeup You Wear The Younger You Look.

While Being Called Beautiful Is Extremely Flattering, I Would Much Rather Be Noticed For My Work As An Actress.

Sexuality Is Part Of Being A Woman, It's Part Of What Empowers Us When We're Smart Enough To Know How To Use It.

Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously. Know When To Laugh At Yourself, And Find A Way To Laugh At Obstacles That Inevitably Present Themselves.

African American

I Never Put Myself In That Box Of You're An Oscar Winner So You Can Only Do This Or That. That's One Award, One Night, And It Does Not Define My Career Or It Does Not Define Me As An Artist. I Never Wanted To Get Put In That Oscar Box Because That's A Lonely Place To Be.

Beauty Is Not Just Physical. It's About What You Stand For, How You Live Your Life.

I Was Black Growing Up In An All-white Neighborhood, So I Felt Like I Just Didn't Fit In. Like I Wasn't As Good As Everybody Else, Or As Smart, Or Whatever.

I Think A Smart Person Today Realizes That You Have To Be Part Of The Art Films That Are Done Just For The Sake Of The Art.

The Day I Saw My Mom Eating The Santa Cookies On The Plate Was One Of The Most Horrific Days Of My Life.

I Would Say A Magical Thing Happened On When The Big 40th Birthday Came. I Felt Like A Light Kind Of Just Went Off, And Maybe That's Because I Felt Like At 40 I Had The Right To Say And Be Who I Wanted To Be, Say What I Wanted To Say, And Accept What I Didn't Want To Accept.

I Never Wanted To Be A Model. My Modelling Career Was Nothing But A Stepping Stone To My Acting Career And That's All I Ever Saw It As. A Pointless Rock In The River That Has To Be Stepped On In Order To Get To The Meaningful Oasis Of Acting.

I No Longer Scramble Blindly Through Hardship. I No Longer Emerge From A Bad Time Feeling Relieved Just To Have Survived. Instead Of Despairing, I Try To Find The Lesson Within The Experience.

I Meditate And Pray All The Time. The Faith And Respect That I Have In The Power Of God In My Life Is What I've Used To Keep Myself Grounded, And It Has Allowed Me To Move Away From The Storms That Were In My Life.

This Moment Is So Much Bigger Than Me. It's For Every Nameless, Faceless Woman Of Colour That Now Has A Chance Because This Door Tonight Has Been Opened.

I Guess You Could Say I Have Bad Taste In Men. But I No Longer Feel The Need To Be Someone's Wife.

For Me, The Walk Of The Character Is Always The First Part That I Must Define For Myself.

Motherhood Sort Of Puts Things Into Perspective, And It's Bout Real Life, And Life Is About People, What We Give, What We Take, What We Share.

I Have To Live For Me. I Have To Do What I Need To Do For Me, And I Have Stopped Concerning Myself With What People Say.

I Think It's Always Best To Be Who You Are.

My Pregnancy Was Amazing. I Was Happy That Whole Time, I Felt Good, I Had Energy, I Was Like Superwoman. I Wish I Could Feel Like That For The Rest Of My Life, That's How Fantastic It Was.

If You Set Out To Do Something And You Give It Your All And It Doesn't Work Out, Be Willing To Modify Your Goal Slightly. Have The Ability To Look In Another Direction. A Small Shift Could Guide You To The Real Purposes Of Your Life.

Having A Baby Takes So Much From You. It's The Most Glorious Thing You'll Ever Do, But The Aftermath Is Not So Glorious!

Let Me Tell You Something - Being Thought Of As A Beautiful Woman Has Spared Me Nothing In Life. No Heartache, No Trouble. Love Has Been Difficult. Beauty Is Essentially Meaningless And It Is Always Transitory.

Anytime You Put A Movie Out It's Subject To Such Scrutiny And Such Criticism.

I Spent A Lot Of Time With A Crown On My Head.

I Think I Am At My Best When My Hair Is Short. It's Easier To Take Care Of And More Of Who I Am. Women Are Conditioned To Think We Need Long Hair.

Nature Has Got It All Wrong: When You Are Younger, It Should Be Harder To Get Pregnant, And As You Get Older It Should Be Easier. When You Are So Ready, You Can't Do It To Save Your Life. And When You Are 21, You Are So Not Ready, But You Are Ripe As Could Be. The Eggs Should Become More Developed The Older You Get, Not Die Slowly From The Day You're Born. That's One Thing God Got Wrong.

Any Time You Risk Big You Often Risk Losing Big. You Can Win Big But You Can Also Lose Big, But You Have To Be Willing To Take Those Risks.

Being A Mother Is Probably The Most Important Thing In My Life Right Now.

I Carried My Oscar To Bed With Me. My First And Only Three-way Happened That Night.

I'm Just Going To Live My Life And Be Who I Am.

After My Divorce, I Was Struggling To Find My Own Voice. Through Reading, I Gained My Power Back.

I Know That I Will Never Find My Father In Any Other Man Who Comes Into My Life, Because It Is A Void In My Life That Can Only Be Filled By Him.

By The Time I Left School, I Had A Lot Of Tenacity.

In Monster's Ball I Went Nude, Which Was Scary, But I Took The Chance And That's How I Like To Approach My Career.

I Find When I Have Short Hair, I Feel Like I Have Nothing To Hide Behind Anymore.

I've Never Been Afraid To Be Who I Really Am On Screen.

When An Opportunity Comes Your Way, It's About Making Sure You're Prepared To Be The One Who Can Walk Through The Door And Deliver The Goods. And I've Had A Lot Of Luck On My Side And I've Been Prepared For That Luck.

When You Grow Up In That (multi-ethnic) Environment, You See The World Differently. Being A Mixed-race Child, I Didn't Always See Colour In People, I Really Didn't. It Was Other People That Made Me See The Colour All The Time.

I Don't See A White Woman. I See A Black Woman, Even Though My Mother Is White. Knowing That Has Made My Life Easier, I Think.

Black And White

I Am So Ready To Be A Mommy. I Can't Wait. I Notice Every Little Baby Dress, Every Little Baby Toy, Every Little Baby Thing.

What's Hardest For Me To Swallow Is When There Is A Love Story, Say, With A Really High-profile Male Star And There's No Reason I Can't Play The Part. They Say, 'oh, We Love Halle, We Just Don't Want To Go Black With This Part.'

People Win 'oscars', And Then It Seems Like They Fall Off The Planet. And That's Partly Because A Huge Expectation Walks In The Room And Sits Right Down On Top Of Your Head.

I See Women In Their 30s Getting Plastic Surgery, Pulling This Up And Tucking That Back. It's Like A Slippery Slope - Once You Start You Pull One Thing One Way And Then You Think, 'oh My God, I've Got To Do The Other Side.'

Throughout My Career I Have Been Talked Out Of Things I Wanted To Do, And When I Look Back, I Think I Should Have Followed My Instincts.

I Will Not Marry Again. There Is No Need.

I Can't Imagine My Life Without Animals. I Have Two Dogs And Three Cats. Coming Home And Finding Them All Lined Up At The Door Waiting For Me Has Got To Be One Of The Sweetest Joys Of My Life.

It Gave Me Strength And Toughness Because I Had To Face Reality, No Matter How Uncomfortable Or Painful It Was.

I Didn't Think It Was Possible At My Age, Honestly. They Call It A Geriatric Pregnancy.

We've Become Obsessed With Beauty And The Fountain Of Youth And, Frankly, I'm Really Saddened By The Way Women Mutilate Their Faces Today In Search Of That.

You Have To Get The Audience Invested Even If You're Doing Something That They Think Is Dumb, It's Kind Of What These Movies Are All About.

I'm Not A Fanatic About Exercising. For Me, It's About Moderation And Balance.

I'm Learning To Accept The Lack Of Privacy As The Real Downer In My Profession.

After All, Everybody Has Secrets And There Are Some Things That Nobody Knows About You But Only You, Right?

I Always Had To Diet. I'm Diabetic, So It's A Lifestyle For Me Anyway Just To Stay Healthy And Not End Up In The Hospital.

Self-esteem Comes From Who You Have In Your Life. How You Were Raised. What You Struggled With As A Child.

When You Have Short Hair, There's Just A Feeling Of Here I Am. What You See Is What You Get. And There's A Confidence That Comes With Wearing Short Hair And I Like The Way That Makes Me Feel.

The Man For Me Is The Cherry On The Pie. But I'm The Pie And My Pie Is Good All By Itself. Even If I Don't Have A Cherry.

Facials Are My Biggest Beauty Indulgence. Looking Good Is About Having A Good Base. It's About Taking Care Of Your Skin.

What's The Worst That Can Happen? If It Doesn't Do Well I Can Put On My Big Girl Panties, Deal With It And Move On.

I've Become Really Comfortable With My Sexuality And Making No Excuses For It Anymore.

My Whole Life I've Had The Fear That I Was Going To Be Abandoned.

There Have Been So Many People Who Have Said To Me, 'you Can't Do That,' But I've Had An Innate Belief That They Were Wrong. Be Unwavering And Relentless In Your Approach.

I Think There's A Certain Level Of Trust That I Have With Women. I've Always Been Honest, Even When I Haven't Had Good Times In My Life Or My Movie Bombed Or I've Had Great Success. I've Owned Up To All Of It.

2007 Began On A High For Me Because I Had The Honour Of Having My Name Added The Hollywood Boulevard Walk Of Fame.

I Take Care Of Myself, Because I Learned Early On That I Am The Only Person In Life Who's Responsible For Me.

I Think I've Evolved Into Someone Pretty Confident - In Myself And In My Skin.

I Used To Have To Downplay My Sexuality Because I Wanted To Be Taken So Seriously As A Thespian And As An Artist And As An Actor, So I'd Play Crack Heads And Down Trotting Women And Disguise Myself, And I Think As I've Gotten Older, I Become More Comfortable With Who I Really Am And All Parts Of Me Knowing That My Physical Self Doesn't Diminish Me In Any Way Or My Talent.

I'll Never Get Married Again, And I Always Hate To Say Never To Anything, But I Will Never Marry Again.

I Am A Hopeless Romantic. And I Won't Stop Till I Get It Right.

Hopeless Romantic

The Worst Thing A Man Can Ever Do Is Kiss Me On The First Date.

I'm Done With Men... I'm Going To Be Alone. I Have No Luck With Relationships. I Don't Think I'm Made For Marriage.

I Want To Do Roles That Are Fun And Challenging And I Want To Try Different Things. I Don't Want To Keep Doing Monster's Ball Over And Over And Over Again. I Want To Keep Doing My Career The Way That I Was Doing It Before I Won The Oscar.

I Know I'm Only One Human Being And I'm Only Making One Tiny Contribution And It's Nothing More Than That.

And You Also Have To Do Movies That Are About Commerce Because That's What Is Required Of The Industry Today.

Beauty Is Not Just Physical.

Physical Attraction

I Wish All Men Were Like Dogs.

I Also Have Been Called That Terrible "n" Word Straight To My Face And Not Known What To Do About It Because It Was Just In Like 1993 That Someone Called Me That.

I've Always Liked To Go Down A Different Path. Being A Woman Of Color, I Never Followed A Cookie Cutter Way.

Growing Older Is Not Such A Big Deal For Me, Despite The Fears That Older Actresses Have In Hollywood. When I Hit 40, For Example, I Didn't Feel 40 - Or Whatever That Is Supposed To Feel Like.

I Like Doritos. I'm Usually Watching 'the Biggest Loser' Eating Doritos.

I've Also Grown As An Actor As I've Got Older In Life. I've Learnt How To Go To Work, Immerse Myself 100 Per Cent In The Character And, At The End Of The Day, Take It All Off And Go Back, Get A Nice Bubble Bath, Have A Nice Massage And Realise That Is Not My Life. And That Feels Good.

When I Was A Kid, My Mother Told Me That If You Could Not Be A Good Loser, Then There's No Way You Could Be A Good Winner.

I've Pretty Much Learned I Can Let That [being Black] Hinder Me If I Want To ... Or I Can Fight For Different Kinds Of Roles.

The Fact Is That I Like Thrillers And Action Movies. But What Really Fulfills Me Is Getting Out Of My Comfort Zone, Taking Chances.

Career Is Important, But Nothing Really Supersedes My Roles As A Mother.

Trending Author

Clifford Geertz

Anderson Cooper

Category