‘Catwoman’ at 20: Halle Berry says she “carried” the film’s backlash on her own
Halle Berry has reflected on the backlash her 2004 Catwoman film received.
In the build up to the film’s 20th anniversary, the Oscar-winning actress told Entertainment Weekly that she felt she “carried” the film’s failure on her own.
“I did not love it,” she said of the overwhelming negative reaction from critics and fans. “Being a Black woman, I am used to carrying negativity on my back, fighting, being a fish swimming upstream by myself. I’m used to defying stereotypes and making a way out of no way.
“I didn’t want to be casual about it, but I went and collected that Razzie, laughed at myself, and kept it moving.
“It didn’t derail me because I’ve fought as a Black woman my whole life. A little bad publicity about a movie? I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t going to stop my world or derail me from doing what I love to do.”
She continued: “Growing up as a Black woman, that’s two strikes against you. There’s an innate resilience. I hated that it got all put on me, and I hate that, to this day, it’s my failure. I know I can carry it.
“I still have a career 20 years later. It’s just part of my story. That’s okay, and I’ve carried other failures and successes. People have opinions, and sometimes they’re louder than others. You just have to keep moving.”
She then went on to describe the moment she accepted her Razzie award for Worst Actress. The memorable occasion saw Berry turn up at the ceremony with her Best Actress Oscar for 2001’s Monster’s Ball.
“The studio knew what I was going to do at the Razzies. I told them I wanted to take the piss out of it and laugh at it. I don’t think it’s a God-awful film, but I was at the Razzies, so I had to do what they do; I shit on it because they shit on it!
“I wrote [that speech] within an inch of my life. I put a lot of thought into how I could do it in a fun way and let everyone know I didn’t take it that seriously. You can never take away my Oscar, no matter how bad you bash me! If you say I earned it, I’ll take this, too.”
Catwoman was released in cinemas on July 23 2004 and received overwhelmingly negative reviews, with both critics and fans calling it one of the worst comic book films ever made.
Back in 2020, Berry admitted in an interview that she knew the film “wasn’t quite right” during production.
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Chris Edwards
NME
