Huh?
Posted on 01/27/2005 3:18:57 PM PST by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
When she became the first black woman to win the best actress Oscar, Halle Berry hoped she would be the first of many.
Three years on, however, no woman has repeated her success.
So Miss Berry, 38, has launched a savage attack on Hollywood producers and directors, accusing them of racial prejudice.
"The struggle for a woman of colour to find good material is still very present, and it's a struggle I fight every day," she said.
Miss Berry said there was such a shortage of decent roles on offer that she had resorted to buying the rights of books she wanted to develop into films.
The actress, who was honoured in 2002 for her role in Monster's Ball as the wife of a prisoner on Death Row, has four such projects in development.
'Called a nigger'
"I try to make the best out of what comes to me but it's going to be about making my own reality really," she added.
"I've been called a nigger straight to my face . . . but there's also much more subtle insidious ways that racism occurs here in Hollywood.
"I don't care what anyone says - they may think it doesn't exist, but it's usually those who aren't black who think that."
When she accepted her Oscar, Miss Berry made it clear she saw it as a breakthrough.
In an emotional speech, she said: "This is for every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door, tonight, has been opened. Tonight the glass ceiling has been broken and I hope that it is shattered forever."
Jamie Foxx tipped for Oscar
Her comments came before today's announcement of this year's Academy Award nominations, when no woman from an ethnic minority is expected to be in the running for best actress and supporting actress.
Black male actors, however, could enjoy record success, with Don Cheadle, for Hotel Rwanda, and Morgan Freeman, for Million Dollar Baby, hot tips for honours at the awards ceremony on February 27.
Jamie Foxx, who last week won a Golden Globe for best actor in a musical for Ray, is the firm favourite for the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of soul legend Ray Charles.
Previously, best actor Oscars have gone to Denzel Washington, who won alongside Miss Berry in 2002 for his role in Training Day, and Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field in 1963.
The only black actresses to win best supporting actress Oscars are Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost in 1990 and Hattie McDaniel for Gone With The Wind in 1939.
Despite her anger at film bosses, Miss Berry, whose mother was born in Liverpool, is believed to be the world's highest-paid black actress.
She earned £25million for appearances in Gothika, X-Men 2 and Catwoman.
Another title bestowed on her was sexiest Bond girl for playing Jinx in the most recent 007 adventure, Die Another Day in 2002.
Her personal life, however, has been blighted by two broken marriages and violence from an ex-boyfriend, which left her partially deaf.
She recently divorced Eric Benet after he admitted cheating on her with a dozen other women.
So Miss Berry, 38, has launched a savage attack on Hollywood producers and directors, accusing them of racial prejudice.
"The struggle for a woman of colour to find good material is still very present, and it's a struggle I fight every day," she said.
Miss Berry said there was such a shortage of decent roles on offer that she had resorted to buying the rights of books she wanted to develop into films.
The actress, who was honoured in 2002 for her role in Monster's Ball as the wife of a prisoner on Death Row, has four such projects in development.
She got an academy award for playing a sex scene?
She sucks as an Actress... and Isn't this the 3rd time She has cried "Racism"
They will "find her rolls"
Great movie idea. I'll be waiting with you.
Sheesh!
Huh?
If Martin Landau had any artistic integrity, he'd have died after that one.
Why does this woman insist on designating herself "black" or a "woman of color?" Her mother is white and her father black. Why must she be identified as anything other than a woman who happens to be an actress, by chosen profession? Our contemporary race-mongerers make hash of Rev. M. L. King, Jr.'s dream of a color-blind society in which only personal merit mattered. Perhaps Adolph Hitler was correct in observing that
"Race is everything."
All I can say is that her choice of material after winning her Oscar is her own fault. But she is up for a Razzie for Catwoman.
She obviously needs to be in the "Undercover Brother" sequel.
Meanwhile, back at the Bush Administration............
Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State
Didn't Ann Coulter write an article called "I Like Black People Too, Julia!" that mentioned Halle Berry winning her Oscar? She called Berry "slightly cocoa" and said something about idealized Anglo-Saxon features, unless I'm remembering wrong.
Halle had a great role as Dorothy Dandridge. She got an oscar for Monsters Ball. WTF is she complaining about?
For those of us in LA....look out....Halle might be on the road driving around upset...the last time that happened....she hit someone & took off.
Gotta dance with who brung ya, Halle. If you're a black person who wants to get anywhere these days, you have to be a Republican.
Undercover Brother was one of the funniest stupid movies I've seen in a while. It made me laugh against my better judgment.
Yep . :)
Her mom raised her that way to protect her self esteem. Now it's just convenient trump card.
A whole lot of white actresses say that there are no good roles for women period. I find their claim more credible than Halle's.
Hell no. The way Hollyweird twists everything a "true" biography of Secretary Rice would have her torturing Iraqi children and laughing like a mad scientist while the "heroic" Democrat 13 try to stop her.
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