Halle Berry had an ‘out of body’ experience doing the infamous ‘Monster’s Ball’ scene: “I call it the...”
Halle Berry garnered worldwide praise and recognition with her role in the 2001 romance thriller 'Monster's Ball'. Interestingly, the 'Catwoman' actress, dubbed watching herself in the film, an out-of-the-body experience. “I like to call that scene the kiss of life,” she told BBC in 2002 referring to the iconic steamy love-making scene in the film. "Honestly, I had an out-of-body experience. I thought, ‘Wow, look at her!’ I never really connected it with myself, and I think that’s how I am able to look at it."
She added, "The character was so far removed from who I am really. It’s the first time in any movie-making experience of mine that I was able to watch a film and not be able to really see me." Berry further explained that the explicit scenes which almost portrayed real-life chemistry between her and co-star Billy Bob Thornton weren’t "about sexual titillation in any way." Rather it was about "servicing those characters and making them as flawed and as complicated as a human being is." She recalled how director Marc Forester’s request from them as actors was to be 'real in the moment' and "not be afraid of the material...not to worry about doing the politically correct thing."
As per Cheat Sheet, despite winning an Oscar for the same, Berry was paid only $5,000 for the role. In a 2021 exclusive with Vanity Fair the 'Moonfall' actress disclosed that her family and friends were initially apprehensive about her onscreen persona and advised against accepting the film. "People around me said, ‘Ooh, it’s a very low-budget movie. It’s very risqué. There are some sexual components to it that maybe you don’t want to do. The subject matter, it’s got a lot of racial components to it. I don’t know if you want to touch this," she recounted.
However, Berry challenged the notions and risked failure. She later reflected, "I thought, ‘I have to do it, I’m going to die if I don’t do this.’ I saw myself all over it. I intrinsically knew who that character was, what she was struggling with, her brokenness, her fracturedness. I understood the battle. I understood her fight in life and, right away, I said, ‘I have to do it." She accepted the part because it ignited something inside of her. "I thought, “Well, I’m going to end my own career on my own volition. I’m going to end my career doing something that inspires me, that ignites me, that excites me."
In 2022, while appearing on 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' Berry revealed that although she wanted to do it, she was also convinced her low-budget film would derail her career. However, her risk paid off.”
