Halle Berry has broken many barriers in Hollywood, from becoming the first Black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress to becoming the first Black woman to star in a solo DC Comics superhero film in 2004’s Catwoman. The latter achievement also led to an industry first: In February 2005, Berry became the biggest celebrity ever to attend the ceremony, accepting her Razzie award for Worst Actress (she had already won an Oscar, incidentally). Now, 20 years later, the icon tells Entertainment Weekly why she felt she had to attend the show and how the negative reception impacted her future.
“The studio knew what I was going to do. I said I wanted to make fun of the movie and laugh at it. I don’t think the movie is terrible, but I was at the Razzies so I had to do what they did. They say shit like that so I’m going to do shit like that! I wanted to be one of them,” Berry told EW in an oral history interview marking the 20th anniversary of the film’s release. “I wanted to be one of them.” [my speech] “I put my life on the line and tried to do it. I found a way to have fun and let people know I wasn’t taking it too seriously. No matter how much criticism I get, you can’t take away my Oscar. If people say I deserve it, fine, I’ll take it. I accept the nice things people say and I accept when they don’t say nice things.”
Although the film received overwhelmingly negative reviews and did poorly at the box office, Berry maintains that he had a lot of fun making it, and feels that the experience changed him as a person, thanks to the relationships he formed on set.
The 57-year-old added that she believes the negative reviews critics showered on the film in 2004 were unjustified and is grateful that a new generation has discovered it – and that she regularly receives praise for it.
“I knew how much effort it took, not just for me, but for everyone else. I didn’t set out to make it a film that critics would pan out for,” Berry said, noting that she trained herself for months to respond to everyday life as a cat in preparation for the role. “I was amazed at the fact that we did it. I got to see my version of Catwoman. I didn’t have any negative feelings.”
The actress feels stronger having survived the anger from viewers at the time, but the pain from the ordeal remains.
Halle Berry in Catwoman. Berry at the 2005 Razzie Awards.
Warner Bros.; Razzie Channel/YouTube
“I didn’t love [the backlash]”As a black woman, I’m used to carrying negativity and fighting and being a fish swimming alone. I’m used to defying stereotypes and carving out a path where no path exists. I didn’t want to be comfortable about it, but I went and got the Razzie, laughed at myself, and kept moving forward,” she recalled. “I’ve been fighting my whole life as a black woman, so I wasn’t going to let it stop me. A little bit of bad press on a movie? I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t going to let it stop my world or stop me from doing what I love.”
Berry shocked the industry in 2005 when she attended the Razzie Awards and delivered a hilarious speech in which she playfully slammed both Catwoman and Warner Bros.
After taking the stage at the event, Berry began her speech by intentionally shedding tears, referencing her emotional reaction to winning an Oscar for Monster’s Ball at the 2002 Academy Awards.
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“No, I don’t have to give this back. It’s got my name on it,” Berry said at the time, holding the Oscar in one hand and the Razzie in the other. “But I just want to thank so many people. You don’t get a Razzie without so many people’s help, so please let me go through this. First of all, thank you to Warner Bros. for putting me in this awful movie. This was exactly what I needed for my career. I was at the top and then I hit rock bottom with Catwoman. This is awesome!”
Read EW’s full oral history of Catwoman from Berry, director Pitof, producer Di Novi and screenwriter Brancato.