Halle Berry Quotes & Sayings

I believe that you can experience very profound moments of change in life ... I never would have become an actress if I hadn't dropped out of high school. As a teenager, I was so driven to pursue my dreams that I made a decision to quit school at 17 so I could find my voice as an actress and eventually the profession embraced me. — Halle Berry

I want to do roles that are fun and challenging and I want to try different things. I don't want to keep doing Monster's Ball over and over and over again. I want to keep doing my career the way that I was doing it before I won the Oscar. — Halle Berry

In the X-Men the women are so strong and sexy! We really kick some male butt! — Halle Berry

I no longer scramble blindly through hardship. I no longer emerge from a bad time feeling relieved just to have survived. Instead of despairing, I try to find the lesson within the experience. — Halle Berry

I think a smart person today realizes that you have to be part of the art films that are done just for the sake of the art. — Halle Berry

2007 began on a high for me because I had the honour of having my name added the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. — Halle Berry

I guess you could say I have bad taste in men. But I no longer feel the need to be someone's wife. — Halle Berry

There have been so many people who have said to me, 'You can't do that,' but I've had an innate belief that they were wrong. Be unwavering and relentless in your approach. — Halle Berry

I'm learning to accept the lack of privacy as the real downer in my profession. — Halle Berry

I don't think I'm unlike a lot of people. I am just someone who is trying to find that mate, and I think it's a really hard thing to do. — Halle Berry

My mother helped me identify myself the way the world would identify me. Bloodlines didn't matter as much as how I would be perceived. — Halle Berry

I'm not one of these actresses like, 'Okay, where's the camera? Is it here? Is it here?' I don't even ask the questions because I don't really want to know. I like not performing for a camera but giving it my best every single time whether you're close or whether you're far. — Halle Berry

I'm not a fanatic about exercising. For me, it's about moderation and balance. — Halle Berry

It's an amazing feeling to know that life is actually growing inside your body. The first time you see the ultrasound and you see the little bones and you realise that it's part of you and it's in your care is life changing and this sort of protective instinct has taken over. — Halle Berry

When I got to be about 16,17 I got into a beauty pageant and I was allowed to start playing around with makeup. — Halle Berry

I've never been afraid to be who I really am on screen. — Halle Berry

I've pretty much learned I can let that [being black] hinder me if I want to ... or I can fight for different kinds of roles. — Halle Berry

My style has evolved in a nice way, but everyone has bad moments. — Halle Berry

The worst thing a man can ever do is kiss me on the first date. — Halle Berry

The man for me is the cherry on the pie. But I'm the pie and my pie is good all by itself. Even if I don't have a cherry. — Halle Berry

Every story about me is so heavy and dramatic. That's not how I do life. But that's the impression people have, and that's what keeps getting reiterated. As if I'm still stuck in all the muck of the past. And I am so not. — Halle Berry

I'm a much better mother at 46 ... than if I were like, 21 or 25. — Halle Berry

My pregnancy was amazing. I was happy that whole time, I felt good, I had energy, I was like Superwoman. I wish I could feel like that for the rest of my life, that's how fantastic it was. — Halle Berry

Beauty is not just physical. — Halle Berry

I wish all men were like dogs. — Halle Berry

My daughter doesn't want to go to school because she knows 'the men' are watching for her. They jump out of the bushes and from behind cars and who knows where else, besieging these children just to get a photo. — Halle Berry

A person's self-esteem has nothing to do with how she looks. — Halle Berry

When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner. — Halle Berry

If you set out to do something and you give it your all and it doesn't work out, be willing to modify your goal slightly. Have the ability to look in another direction. A small shift could guide you to the real purposes of your life. — Halle Berry

Self-esteem comes from who you have in your life. How you were raised. What you struggled with as a child. — Halle Berry

I'm not sad at all about turning 40. — Halle Berry

When I was younger, living in an all-black neighborhood the other kids thought I was better than them because of my light skin and straight hair. Then we moved to an all-white neighborhood and that was a culture shock ... I'd been used to being around all black kids. — Halle Berry

I also have been called that terrible "N" word straight to my face and not known what to do about it because it was just in like 1993 that someone called me that. — Halle Berry

I take care of myself, because I learned early on that I am the only person in life who's responsible for me. — Halle Berry

Motherhood sort of puts things into perspective, and it's bout real life, and life is about people, what we give, what we take, what we share. — Halle Berry

I never even think about the physicality of roles, until honestly I get the gig and I think, 'OK, now what do I have to do in this one?' Like, I approach it thinking more about the character
do I respond to it? Is it something I think I can play? Does it seem like it'll be fun? — Halle Berry

I have to live for me. I have to do what I need to do for me, and I have stopped concerning myself with what people say. — Halle Berry

In a perfect world, I would be a painter. I love working with my hands. I don't get to do it as much as I like, but I am finding a way to make more time as life goes on because it's a really great outlet for me to express myself. — Halle Berry

I am my best self when I have super-short hair. That's when I feel most like me and most confident. — Halle Berry

I think there's a certain level of trust that I have with women. I've always been honest, even when I haven't had good times in my life or my movie bombed or I've had great success. I've owned up to all of it. — Halle Berry

This moment is so much bigger than me. It's for every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened. — Halle Berry

I'm not afraid of portraying anything on-screen. — Halle Berry

People win Oscars, and then it seems like they fall off the planet. And that's partly because a huge expectation walks in the room and sits right down on top of your head. The moment I won the Oscar, I felt the teardown the very next day. — Halle Berry

When I think, where did I laugh the most, where did I eat the most, where did I just feel good all the time, I would say making the Bond movie 'Die Another Day.' To be part of such an iconic franchise and to travel to exotic places - that was the most fun I ever had. — Halle Berry

Having a baby takes so much from you. It's the most glorious thing you'll ever do, but the aftermath is not so glorious! — Halle Berry

I'm not the girl for superhigh fashion because I don't have the right body. — Halle Berry

I think it's always best to be who you are. — Halle Berry

I didn't think it was possible at my age honestly. They call it a geriatric pregnancy — Halle Berry

I've always thought what was I before I was this and then what will I be when I leave here. I really had a hard time always accepting that at some point I'm just going to turn to dust and ashes and never be again and that the journey would stop. I believe that we are souls, kind of like a version of what our movie presents, and we come here again and again until we arrive at our highest evolution, and what happens after that I don't know. — Halle Berry

The first step is clearly defining what it is you're after, because without knowing that, you'll never get it. — Halle Berry

In Monster's Ball I went nude, which was scary, but I took the chance and that's how I like to approach my career. — Halle Berry

When a young woman tells me that she wants to become and actor, I say, 'No, be a writer. Or go to business school and learn how to run a studio.' The only real change will come from behind the scenes. — Halle Berry

Career is important, but nothing really supersedes my roles as a mother. — Halle Berry

I get offered varied parts, often super sexy roles. But I still think it's an issue to find the good scripts. It's a myth that you win an Oscar and you get more opportunities, and this doesn't just go for me. — Halle Berry

The times may have changed, but the people are still the same. We're still looking for love, and that will always be our struggle as human beings. — Halle Berry

Nature has got it all wrong: When you are younger, it should be harder to get pregnant, and as you get older it should be easier. When you are so ready, you can't do it to save your life. And when you are 21, you are so not ready, but you are ripe as could be. The eggs should become more developed the older you get, not die slowly from the day you're born. That's one thing God got wrong. — Halle Berry

I don't see a white woman. I see a black woman, even though my mother is white. Knowing that has made my life easier, I think. — Halle Berry

I chose a sunflower because when darkness descends they close up to regenerate. But I really wish I'd never had the tattoo in the first place. Clean, clear skin is always better. — Halle Berry

As beautiful as Halle is on the outside, she's 10 times more beautiful on the inside. — Halle Berry

When I'm rested, I'm at my best. — Halle Berry

I know I'm only one human being and I'm only making one tiny contribution and it's nothing more than that. — Halle Berry

I'm not done with love, but I refuse to settle. I am a hopeless romantic. And I won't stop till I get it right. — Halle Berry

I've learned my tricks. I know what I like. I do not wait around. I initiate. And I'm not all about frequency. I favor intensity. — Halle Berry

Sexiness is a state of mind - a comfortable state of being. It's about loving yourself in your most unlovable moments. — Halle Berry

I love a character that gives me a chance to grow and do something different. — Halle Berry

I'm just going to live my life and be who I am. — Halle Berry

I always had to diet. I'm diabetic, so it's a lifestyle for me anyway just to stay healthy and not end up in the hospital. — Halle Berry

I'm done with men ... I'm going to be alone. I have no luck with relationships. I don't think I'm made for marriage. — Halle Berry

By the time I left school, I had a lot of tenacity. — Halle Berry

Women slave for their hair! It's all about how we compare ourselves to other women, how we size ourselves up. — Halle Berry

I archive a lot of my clothes and have them wrapped up and in boxes. I call them 'little tombs' and keep them in a storage space ... I would never get rid of the dress I wore on the night I won my Oscar. When I die, someone can have it, but not a minute before! — Halle Berry

And you also have to do movies that are about commerce because that's what is required of the industry today. — Halle Berry

I learned up less is more.The makeup used to wear me and now I wear the makeup. — Halle Berry

I realize as you age the less makeup you wear the younger you look. — Halle Berry

Blackness is a state of mind, and I identify with the black community. Mainly, because I realized, early on, when I walk into a room, people see a black woman, they don't see a white woman. So out of that reason alone, I identify more with the black community. — Halle Berry

It is very hard to separate one's self from a character. Sometimes the people closest to me have to be very understanding. — Halle Berry

Being a mother is probably the most important thing in my life right now. — Halle Berry

After all, everybody has secrets and there are some things that nobody knows about you but only you, right? — Halle Berry

I know that there is a God - the God within me that's always present and will protect me. I'm not afraid to climb any mountain, because I know that I'm protected. Even if I fall and die, I'm still protected. My faith is on that level. — Halle Berry

Here's the thing - you can't be careful about what you pick because what looks like on paper is going to be a great script has often turned out to be a disaster, so there's no way to know what's going to work or to pick the right thing. — Halle Berry

I meditate and pray all the time. The faith and respect that I have in the power of God in my life is what I've used to keep myself grounded, and it has allowed me to move away from the storms that were in my life. — Halle Berry

Anytime you put a movie out it's subject to such scrutiny and such criticism. — Halle Berry

Actors always have to fight for the good parts. There are so few good roles written for women each year, and when one is written like this every actress in town covets the role. — Halle Berry

I think my feet are my sexiest body part. People I find really sexy include Angelina Jolie, George Clooney and my mum. — Halle Berry

I can't imagine my life without animals. I have two dogs and three cats. Coming home and finding them all lined up at the door waiting for me has got to be one of the sweetest joys of my life. — Halle Berry

Being biracial is sort of like being in a secret society. Most people I know of that mix have a real ability to be in a room with anyone, black or white. — Halle Berry

But I just don't think it's an abyss of nothingness [after death] and that we fall off and that our journey stops. I think it's circular and we go and we go and we go. I know that there are civilizations that I think are way more sophisticated than we are and I think more sophisticated civilizations lived before us. — Halle Berry

I do not love to work out, but if I stick to exercising every day and put the right things in my mouth, then my diabetes just stays in check. — Halle Berry

Let me tell you something - being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life. No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory. — Halle Berry

My partner is a Frenchman, so I have got to smell right. — Halle Berry

While being called beautiful is extremely flattering, I would much rather be noticed for my work as an actress. — Halle Berry

I used to believe that if my career was going great, then I was not entitled to a great personal life. Well, I've stopped thinking that way. I believe I can have it all. — Halle Berry

I won't have a traditional marriage; I don't find the value in that anymore. But I am such a hopeless romantic and I really want love and I want a committed relationship, so I am going to reinvent marriage for myself. — Halle Berry

Being a black woman, I've often felt I've been judged by my sex and my race, and I have always known that it shouldn't hamper me. — Halle Berry

My mother always said to me, 'You're going to have to work harder and have to be better, and you can't take no for an answer'. — Halle Berry

It gave me strength and toughness because I had to face reality, no matter how uncomfortable or painful it was. — Halle Berry

I think I've evolved into someone pretty confident - in myself and in my skin. — Halle Berry

When an opportunity comes your way, it's about making sure you're prepared to be the one who can walk through the door and deliver the goods. And I've had a lot of luck on my side and I've been prepared for that luck. — Halle Berry

I've also grown as an actor as I've got older in life. I've learnt how to go to work, immerse myself 100 per cent in the character and, at the end of the day, take it all off and go back, get a nice bubble bath, have a nice massage and realise that is not my life. And that feels good. — Halle Berry

I will not marry again. There is no need. — Halle Berry