How Halle Berry Became a Movie Director

Halle Berry gears up to discuss her directorial debut for the upcoming film Bruised. The film premiered at Hollywood’s AFI Fest on Saturday night.

About ‘Bruised’

Berry plays a disgraced MMA fighter who returns to the ring when the son she gave up at birth unexpectedly returns.

Halle Berry’s Directing Experience

There seems to be a lot of pressure surrounding directors. Since Berry is a first-time director, she tells the Hollywood Reporter that she definitely feels the heat. While directing a film has its own challenges, she also has the responsibility of playing the lead simultaneously. Berry prepared for the role with months of training. She expressed that this was “one of the biggest challenges of my career.”

Berry shares a personal connection to the story. “I was told a long time ago if you’re going to be a filmmaker and tell a story, let it be something you love and something you know. And I feel like this is something I love and know,” Berry said on the red carpet.

How Halle Berry Became the Director of ‘Bruised’

Originally the film was written for a white character with Blake Lively to star. However, she dropped out and Berry seized the opportunity to star. After she changed the minds of producers to refocus the story, she struggled to find a director that caught her eye. She later became the director after encouragement from a friend.

Halle Berry’s Conversation with Ava DuVernay

“All of the filmmakers that I spoke to, they didn’t see the story that I saw in my head, they couldn’t quite understand all the elements of this,” she explained to DuVernay in a post-screening Q&A at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

“I finally went home one night, and I was pretty distraught because I was like, ‘Oh god, I can’t seem to get a filmmaker to make this story.’ And then my dear friend, [producer] Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas said to me, ‘Why don’t you direct?’ And I said, ‘Me? I’ve never directed a movie before, this is too big of a role to play. I can’t do that.’ She said, ‘You absolutely can, you love it like I’ve never seen anybody love anything.’” She then decided to do it and shared how she “ran to the hallway of the office and screamed at the top of my lungs, ‘I’m going to direct a movie!’” “It was one of my greatest moments,” she said.

How Directing has Impacted Halle Berry

“I know that women of color have to keep telling their stories because we have a definitive point of view. And for so long, our stories have been told by men or white men or even white women.,” Berry told DuVernay. “And I think it’s really important that we continue to tell our own stories through our own lens and make them valuable. So for whether I’ll do it or not, I hope so,” she continued. “I hope I’ll be afforded another opportunity to get behind the camera and tell another story that I’m passionate about.”

Bruised comes to theaters and Netflix on Nov. 24. Check out the trailer below!