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In 2002, Halle Berry created history by becoming the first African-American woman to win the Oscar Award for Best Actress for playing the role of widowed woman Leticia Musgrove in the 2001 romantic drama Monster’s Ball.
According to Vanity Fair, the actress broke down in tears while delivering her acceptance speech and hoped that her victory would pave the way for more women of color to earn their recognition at the Oscars:
“This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It’s for the women that stand beside me: Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And it’s for every nameless and faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.”
Unfortunately, nearly two decades later, Halle Berry continues to be the only African-American recipient of the Best Actress category in the history of Academy Awards.
During a recent interview for ABC’s Soul of a Nation: Screen Queens Rising special, the X-Men star revealed that she feels “completely heartbroken” to remain the only African-American Oscar winner for Best Actress:
"I do feel completely heartbroken that there's no other woman standing next to me in 20 years."
The Academy Awards have long been criticized for alleged discrimination against artists of color.
In 2016, the “OscarsSoWhite” hashtag trended on social media after no African-American actor was nominated in the main acting categories for two consecutive years.
Halle Berry opens up about her Oscar win and challenges in Hollywood
Halle Berry came under the spotlight after becoming the first runner-up of the Miss USA pageant and reaching sixth position in Miss World 1986. Her breakthrough film role came with the 1992 movie Boomerang, cast alongside Eddie Murphy.
The 55-year-old appeared in films like The Flintstones, Bulworth and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. She also received a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for her role in the latter.
Halle Berry became one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood in the 2000s. She bagged leading roles in films like the X-Men franchise, Catwoman, Die Another Day, Swordfish, Perfect Stranger, The Call, Cloud Atlas, Gothika, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, among many others.
She also made history by becoming the only African-American woman to receive the Best Actress award. However, nearly 20 years later, Halle Berry expressed her disappointment about no other Black actress receiving the same award. She said:
"I thought, like everybody else, that night meant a lot of things would change, that there would be other women. I thought I would have the script truck back up to my front door and I'd have an opportunity to play any role I wanted. That didn't happen. No other woman is standing there."
Halle Berry’s journey to becoming one of the most prominent faces in Hollywood as a woman of color also came with its challenges. She told host T.J. Holmes for the Screen Queens Rising special that she continues to fight to maintain her place in the industry:
"The fight has been consistent, it just changes its face, you know? But the fight is as hard as it was to get in the industry. And now to stay in the industry for 30 years and find a way to stay relevant and still do things that I love is a constant fight."
The actress also opened up about the obstacles and struggles she had to face while rising over discrimination to build a name for herself in Hollywood:
"It was obstacle after obstacle. Every other day, I was threatened to be shut down. I think the reason it has happened to me a lot… being Black and looking the way I look, I'm always marginalized. I'm always second-guessed. I always have to prove that I am more than the shell that I walk around in. And I believe on some level that's why."
Despite her challenges, Halle Berry talked about her faith in future generations and hoped that their fight would be easier:
"My hope for the Tessa Thompsons and the Zendayas is that because I've lived through my journey and I've fought all the fights that I had to fight and continue to fight, that their fight will be indelibly easier.”
Meanwhile, the actress also expressed disappointment towards Viola Davis and Andra Day losing out in the Best Actress category at the 2021 Oscars for their roles in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
However, she also shared that awards do not define the credibility or talent of any artist:
"It doesn't take anything away from those performances or who they are as artists. I think we have to start to change our perspective because it's clear that we may not change how the awards are handed out."
Halle Berry also talked about how change can be introduced in the industry:
"In lieu of changing that, what can we change? We can change our participation within the industry. We can change how hard we fight to tell our stories, the scripts we write."
The actress further shared that she can visualize good change and a better future for African-American artists in the industry. She also believes that her historic Oscars victory has allowed many people to dream for their future:
"When I look around and I see my brothers and sisters working and thriving and telling their own stories from their point of view, I'm proud of that. And I see the movement forward. And I think that night inspired so many of those people to dream those dreams."
Halle Berry’s episode of Soul of a Nation: Screen Queens Rising aired on February 3, 2022, on ABC and Hulu. The award-winning actress appeared in the 2020 Netflix drama Bruised, marking her directorial debut.
