31 Facts About Halle Berry You Probably Didn’t Know Before

Halle Berry is known for making history, while capturing the hearts of millions of people around the world, with her raw talent, sex appeal, and good sense of humor. Her decades-long journey in Hollywood has not been all smooth sailing however. She has been through accidents and tragedies, but Berry has navigated all these obstacles, and even made headlines recently with photos of her six pack abs for her upcoming movie “Bruised.” Here are a few interesting things you probably didn’t know about the American actress:

1. For her performance as Leticia Musgrove in the movie “Monster’s Ball,” she was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, making her the first and the only African American woman, as of 2019, to have won the award.
2. She is one of only six actors in history to have won an Academy Award and a Razzie Award. Halle Berry is also the first person to accept the Razzie Award in person. She is said to have walked out on stage proudly holding both of her awards.
3. In preparation for her role as Sofia in the movie “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” she underwent six months training – three hours a day, four days a week – doing drills with the malinois dogs, in order to form a bond with them.
4. Her co-star Keanu Reeves praised her saying she was “100 percent committed” to her role, and claimed that the film’s dog trainer told him that they treat Halle as their trainer. It helped production tremendously, as Berry could herself command the dogs, instead of using a trainer off frame.
5. Berry did not only have to bond with the dogs, she also had to train in martial arts, weapons usage, and endurance while training. She had to improve her cardiovascular stamina for her scenes.
6. She was featured as Jinx in Pierce Brosnan’s final Bond movie “Die Another Day” in the year 2002. She has expressed interest to return as Jinx in another Bond movie, possibly with Daniel Craig as James Bond, and that she would even do it for free.
7. In the movie “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” despite being featured prominently in the credits, her character Storm’s screentime in the movie was substantially reduced to just 22 minutes, due to her pregnancy.
8. Her famous bikini scenes from “Die Another Day” were shot in Cadiz, during freezing temperatures, as opposed to to what appeared to be warm and sunny onscreen. Berry was wrapped up in thick towels between each take to prevent her from freezing.
9. Halle Berry was the original choice for the lead role of Jordan Turner in the movie “The Call,” with Joel Schumacher as the director, but he was replaced by Brad Anderson. She dropped out of the project, due to scheduling conflicts, but returned later when the start date was pushed up.
10. When shooting a scene for the movie “Dark Tide,” she actually touched a great white shark in the wild, while leaning over in a boat. She described it as an out-of-the-world experience.
11. It was reported that it took her a week of 90-minute practice sessions daily to successfully crack a whip, in preparation of her titular role in the movie “Catwoman.”
12. Her whirlwind wire stunts in the movie “X-Men: The Last Stand,” made her so nauseated that in one particular scene, she vomited. From then on, before shooting her fight scenes, the crew would bring buckets just in case.
13. Her nudity scene from the movie “Monster’s Ball” was ranked at #2 on Mr. Skin’s list of “The Top 150 Greatest Celebrity Nude Scenes of All Time” in August 2014.
14. While shooting the smoke grenade scene in the movie “Die Another Day,” debris from the grenade landed in her eye, which required a thirty minute operation to remove.
15. She played the role of Emily in the 2013 “Movie 43,” in the segment “Truth or Dare.” It was reported that her co-star Stephen Merchant, who played the role of Donald in the same segment, signed on to the project, only because he could be around Berry.
16. It was reported that she was a huge fan of the John Wick film series and was immediately on board to play the role of female assassin Sofia, in the movie “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” even before the role was completely written.
17. During the filming of the movie “Dark Tide,” she would often get seasick, which she claims to be her biggest weakness. However, before the filming was over, she overcame her seasickness.
18. In the movie “Catwoman,” a domestic breed bengal cat was used, which she claimed to adopt once the filming was over. Fund for Animals reportedly sent her a letter based on inaccurate facts from different media sources that described the cat to be a tiger.
19. Just as she accepted the role of Sofia in the movie “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” director Chad Stahelski warned her about the hard training required for a role in a “John Wick.” But still, Berry was determined, and once the film was completed, she claimed that she was proud of her work in the movie.
20. The fuchsia crystal dress her character Jinx wears in the movie “Die Another Day,” was reportedly designed specifically to her measurements by Donatella Versace, per the request of costume designer Lindy Hemming.
21. In preparation for her role of Jordan Turner in the movie “The Call,” she reportedly visited a call center and hung out with 911 operators, in order to know the ins and outs of their job, and found it to be emotionally very stressful.
22. She was initially cast in the role of Laura in the movie “New Year’s Eve,” but had to drop out due to the custody battle with her ex-partner, leaving the role to Katherine Heigl. When the custody battle was resolved, she returned to the movie, in another role as Nurse Aimee.
23. When asked how she prepared for the role of Sofia in the “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” she said that she had never trained this much before and that it was really tough. But she loves how her character turned out have real heart and soul. During the filming of the movie, she reportedly broke three ribs and was severely injured.
24. While filming a fight sequence involving a chase scene in the movie “Catwoman,” she collided with a piece of stage equipment and ended up in a hospital. The injury was reportedly not serious.
25. During the filming of a fight scene in the movie “The Call,” she reportedly suffered a head injury and was immediately rushed to the hospital. She was declared fine and healthy.
26. In preparation for her role as Kate Mathieson in the 2012 movie “Dark Tide,” she is said to have spent several weeks studying with a shark whisperer with decades of experience.
27. She declined to reprise her role as Storm in the movie “X-Men: The Last Stand,” citing lack of her character’s development, and a tense relationship with the director Bryan Singer. However, when Singer left the project, she agreed to return to the role with the condition that her role of Storm would be expanded.
28. A spin-off was planned for Jinx from the Bond movie “Die Another Day,” with Jinx as the lead character, and with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade working on the script, and Stephen Frears hired as the director. However, with the failures of other female-character-driven action films, MGM is said to have dropped this project.
29. For the topless scene in the 2001 movie “Swordfish,” she is said to have charged an extra 500,000 dollars, on top of her initial fee of two million dollars. She claimed that she agreed to do the scene in an effort to overcome her fear of doing nude scenes, as she said those scenes scared her to death.
30. During the filming of a scene with Robert Downey Jr., in the movie “Gothika,” Robert was supposed to grab and twist her arm lightly. The actor unintentionally twisted her arm too hard and it snapped, with her ending up in hospital. Production was delayed by 8 weeks.
31. Halle Berry Net Worth: $80 Million