John Wick star Halle Berry did most of her own stunts in the new action film — undergoing grueling training that left her with 3 broken ribs. But the Oscar winner is no stranger to overcoming challenges. This is her story.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00This is on another level of bad a**, you know, and I know so because I trained harder than I've ever trained in my whole life.
00:18I was a victim. My mother was, you know, abused.
00:22And as a child, we're also victims.
00:25So I think it's something that I know about, it's something that I lived through, that I've recovered from.
00:42We were in culture shock a little bit, and I got bullied a little bit.
00:49At that time we were Oreos because my mother was white, my father was black.
00:55I took my modeling money, and I thought when you're that young, I thought, well, I got some cash, what if you get to New York?
01:19That doesn't last long.
01:21I mean, three months later, I was out of my cash.
01:56I learned through this project, I totally empowered myself and realized that if I dare dream it, I can make it happen.
02:02And Dorothy's given me that gift, so I want to produce more.
02:11I wouldn't want any of these bowers. I think if I really could choose, I would honestly say, you know what, I think I'd stay just the way I am.
02:25This moment, although I'm standing here, I lament it. It's really not just about me.
02:40It's about so many people that went before me, that paved the way, and people who are fighting alongside with me,
02:47and the ones that will come along, whose path will be indelibly easier because of everyone.
02:52So it's not really about me as much as it's about so many other women of color.
02:57The films, I think, that are coming out of Hollywood aren't truthful.
03:23Our cities are filled with black and brown people, and many times, unfortunately, we see films that are set in Chicago, New York, Atlanta,
03:35in big metropolitan cities, and they're void of people of color.
03:40This is on another level of badass, and I know so because I trained harder than I've ever trained in my whole life.
03:57I learned martial arts skills that I never knew that I now know, that can probably help me in life if I really needed them.
04:11When this role came along, it gave me a chance to do exactly what I wanted to do at this stage in my life.
04:21Being a woman of color of a certain age, it gave me a chance to show something different, and to kick ageism in the face,
04:28and prove that we're not defined by that number that gets tagged to us at birth.
04:34That doesn't define us at all, and we should not let it define us.