Halle Berry says she is “profoundly hurt” that no other woman of color has won an Academy Award for Best Actress since she took home the golden statue in 2002.
Sitting down with Teen Vogue at Cannes Lions, Berry said her Oscar win “meant nothing.”
“It’s troubling to say the least,” Berry began, referencing the 2015 Oscar race, which spawned the “Oscars so white” controversy after zero non-white actors were nominated for a major award. “I sat there and I really thought, ‘Wow, that moment really meant nothing. It meant nothing. I thought it meant something but I think it meant nothing.'”
“I was profoundly hurt by that, and saddened by that,” she added.
Berry won the Oscar for Best Actress for Monster’s Ball at the 74th Academy Awards. In an emotional acceptance speech, Berry dedicated the award to “every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.”
“It inspired me to try to get involved in other ways, which is why I want to start directing,” Berry explained. “I want to start producing more. I want to start making more opportunities for people of colour.”
Echoing the sentiment now behind an industry-wide effort, Berry said studios must do more to increase diversity behind the camera.
“We need more people of colour writing, directing, producing – not just starring,” she said. “We have to start telling stories that include us.”
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