Halle Berry has stressed the importance of getting more women of colour directing Hollywood movies.
Halle Berry wants more women of colour to get the chance to direct
The ‘Bruised’ star - who made her directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed Netflix Original film - isn't sure about where her own career behind the camera is going, but she strongly believes others should get the same opportunity.
The 55-year-old actress told the US edition of OK! magazine: “It’s hard to say what will actually be in my future. But I will say it’s important for women of colour to make movies from our gaze because it really is very, very different. For so long, our stories have been told by white men or women, and I think it’s [crucial] that we continue to tell our own stories through our own lens."
She added: “I think it gives others a way to understand us more deeply and we should be a part of art in that way. So whether I do it or not, I hope I’ll be another opportunity to get behind the camera and tell other that I’m passionate about. I really do.”
The ‘Catwoman’ star revealed she used her stint in the director’s chair to add some new elements to the character she portrayed.
She said: “When I read the script, I was taken by the story. But Jackie Justice was a 20-something- white Irish Catholic woman. So I had to convince our producers that I could reimagine the story for someone that looked like me.”
The ‘Monster’s Ball’ star was drawn to the story - a mixed martial art fighter having to confront her son that she gave up for adoption - because she believes it vital to confront “generational pain that we pass on”.
She added: “It was really important for me to talk about that generational pain that we pass on, the origins of our growth that we sometimes bury and we suffer from especially in the Black community. We don’t talk about the abuse and the damage that happens to us.
"So it was important for me to show Jackie move forward and become the mother that she knew she was meant to be, but didn’t think she could be because she had no mothering herself.”
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