Halle Berry made a moving acceptance speech in 2002 when she received her Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in ‘Monster’s Ball’ in 2001. Berry’s win marked history as she was the first black woman to win the category, and the third one overall.
The ‘Catwoman‘ actress gave an inspirational speech hoping it would inspire more colored women nominations and wins in the future. However, twenty-two years later, Berry has been left disappointed. Since her win, no black woman has won the Best Actress category. Michelle Yeoh received the honor in 2023 for her performance in ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’. Halle, in a recent interview, voiced her disappointment over the colorless wins in the past two decades.
“I’m Still Eternally Miffed”: Halle Berry Belives Other Women Of Color Deserve An Academy Award
Halle Berry believed her win at the Oscars would have inspired the Academy Awards committee to include more colored women in the Best Actress category. However, ‘The Union’ actress is disappointed that after more than two decades no black woman has been honored with the accolade.
Speaking with Marie Claire, Berry said, “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.”
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She continued, “And it’s certainly not because there has been nobody deserving.” Berry gave instances of Andra Day in ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’ (2021) and Viola Davis in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’. Jessica Chastain beat Day in 2022 and Davis lost to Francis McDormand in 2021.
Berry said, “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.”
Halle Berry Now Feels Disappointed By Her Oscar Win
This is not the first time Halle Berry has voiced her disappointment in her Oscar win. In 2017, when the #OscarsSoWhite movement went viral, Berry stated, “It really meant nothing. It meant nothing. I thought it meant something, but I think it meant nothing.” The ‘John Wick’ actress added in her acceptance speech that she believed she “was chosen to open a door.”
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However, Berry remains only the third woman to receive an Academy Award. Each year the committee is questioned over its lack of diversity among the winners. Berry had determined to, “forge a way out of no way” in her acceptance speech.
The actress is scheduled to appear in cinemas in her upcoming horror ‘Never Let Go’ on September 20.
