Halle Berry
Dennis Truscello/Getty ImagesHalle Berry still believes in her iconic Razzie Awards speech, 20 years on.
Since 1981, the Golden Raspberry Awards have served as an anti-awards show, honoring cinema’s biggest flops, flops and missteps. In 2004, the 57-year-old Berry made the unusual decision to accept her Worst Actress award in person after starring in the commercially flop Catwoman.
“I put my life on the line when I wrote it. I thought a lot about how to write it in a fun way and make sure people knew I wasn’t taking it too seriously,” she told Entertainment Weekly as part of the Catwoman 20th anniversary oral history. “No matter how much criticism you get, you can’t take away my Oscar! If I deserve it, I’ll take it. I accept the nice things people say, and I accept the not-so-nice things they say.”
Berry arrived at the ceremony carrying the hat she wore when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2001’s “Monster’s Ball,” and blasted Warner Bros. for ruining her post-Oscar fame.
“No, I don’t have to give it back because it’s got my name on it,” Berry said of the Oscar, before blaming the movie studio. “You don’t get a Razzie without a lot of people’s help, so please forgive me. Thank you Warner Bros. for letting me be in a terrible, terrible movie, which was exactly what my career needed. I was at the top and then I hit rock bottom with Catwoman. This is great!”
In an interview with EW, she said Warner Bros. knew she was planning on giving a speech at the Razzie Awards.
“The studio knew what I was going to do. I said I wanted to make fun of this movie and make fun of it,” she said. “I don’t think the movie is terrible, but I was at the Razzies so I had to do it like they did. I’m doing it because they do it! I was trying to be one of them.
Two decades later, Berry believes the film’s reputation was undeserved, saying she bears no hard feelings toward the production team and enjoys the finished product.
“I knew how much effort everyone put into it, not just me, but we didn’t set out to make it into a film that critics would pan out for,” Berry said. “I was amazed that we got through it. I got to see my version of Catwoman, and there were no negative feelings.”
Berry also said that no amount of negative reviews will knock her career off track.
“I’ve been fighting as a black woman my whole life, so it’s not like it stopped me in my tracks. The little bit of bad press about the movie? I didn’t like it, but it hasn’t stopped my world or stopped me from doing what I love,” she said.