Halle Berry Is ‘Eternally Miffed’ That She’s Still the Only Black Woman to Win the Best Actress Oscar: ‘I’m Continually Saddened by That Year After Year’
Halle Berry continues to be disappointed with the Oscars as she remains the only Black performer to ever win the Academy Award for best actress. She took home the prize for “Monster’s Ball” at the 2002 Oscars, and only one other woman of color (Michelle Yeoh for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) has won best actress in the 22 years since.
“I’m still eternally miffed that no Black woman has come behind me for that best actress Oscar, I’m continually saddened by that year after year,” Berry said in an interview with Marie Claire. “And it’s certainly not because there has been nobody deserving.”
More from Variety
Berry pointed to Oscar-nominated performances by Andra Day in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” and Viola Davis in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” as two examples of performances that deserved an Oscar. Speaking to Variety a few years ago, Berry also cited Cynthia Erivo in “Harriet” and Ruth Negga in “Loving” as other Oscar-worthy performances by Black women.
“I thought there were women that rightfully, arguably, could have, should have. I hoped they would have, but why it hasn’t gone that way, I don’t have the answer,” she said at the time.
Berry added to Variety that her win remained “one of my biggest heartbreaks” as it never opened up a door for more Black women at the Oscars as she proclaimed during her acceptance speech.
“The morning after, I thought, ‘Wow, I was chosen to open a door.’ And then, to have no one … I question, ‘Was that an important moment, or was it just an important moment for me?’” Berry said. “I wanted to believe it was so much bigger than me. It felt so much bigger than me, mainly because I knew others should have been there before me and they weren’t…just because I won an award doesn’t mean that, magically, the next day, there was a place for me. I was just continuing to forge a way out of no way.”
Speaking at Cannes Lion the year after #OscarsSoWhite went viral, Berry said she was thinking to herself that her Oscar win “really meant nothing. It meant nothing. I thought it meant something, but I think it meant nothing.”
Berry most recently starred in Netflix’s “The Union” opposite Mark Whalberg. The film is now streaming. She’ll next be back on the big screen in the upcoming horror movie “Never Let Go,” in theaters Sept. 20.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.