QUOTES

"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," said Berry about growing up with mixed ethnicity (her mother is white). "Then we moved to an all-white neighborhood and that was a culture shock ... I'd been used to being around all black kids."

"When I was growing up, all of the beautiful role models were white. I don't resent beautiful white women. I would have to resent my mother if I did. But, as a girl, I couldn't imagine that anyone would ever consider me to be beautiful since nobody on TV, or in the movies, or even in the magazines--or almost nobody--was black and beautiful. Kids notice these things. So, that didn't seem like a possibility for me. But things have changed for women of color, including black women. Now, we accept people from all backgrounds as beautiful, and that's good for women too."

Halle on her preparation for the role of "Vivian" in the movie "Jungle Fever": "I knew right from the start I'd have to do something that would steer the focus away from my physical self".

On her role in "Executive Decision": "I like my character [in "Executive Decision"]. She's a strong woman--one who acts, not reacts. That's good for women, I think".

Preparing for the movie "Swordfish": "I kept going to the gym ... A lot of this was just studying the script and finding what I wanted to do with Ginger. She was the classic femme fatale. I didn't think she'd be likable at first, so my challenge was to make a sexy girl as human".

Her feeling towards playing the role as "Ginger" in the movie "Swordfish": "It was playing a character who was that in control of her sexuality, that comfortable with herself. ... The hardest part was three months before, deciding to do it. When the day came, it was very anticlimactic. Hugh was more uncomfortable than I was, because I see these all the time. He was like, "Oh my God! There she is."

About her acting career " As I get older, I'm able to laugh at things more, laugh at myself more and find humor in more situations.  And because of that, I think I'm better able now to translate that into my work.  When I first started, I was really serious, because I came from modeling and beauty pageants, and I thought Hollywood would not take me seriously. So I had to become a serious actor and did serious stuff. And now that I've gotten older, and I've done a few things, I'm settling into who I really am".

"A good role for a woman is hard to come by - be she black, white, or sky-blue pink."

Her website: "You guys (the media) have always been pretty kind to me, so that's not a bad thing. But it's nice to have an outlet, to have a voice, that's uncut and unedited and I can say what I want to say in its entirety. So it's a really good release for me."

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