Halle Berry Wants Another Black Woman To 'Stand Next' To Her As Oscars Best Actress Winner

Halle Berry has again expressed her desire for another Black woman to win the Academy Awards for Best Actress.

Berry made history in 2002 when she became the first Black woman to win the Best Actress at the Oscars for her performance in "Monster's Ball."

However, no other Black woman has won the award again after Berry, and she is "tired" of that being the case.

Berry recently appeared on an episode of Trevor Noah's "What Now?" Podcast and opened up about being a Black woman.

She said per Entertainment Weekly, "Being born a Black woman, I feel like I have always felt like I sat at the bottom of society."

"The Union" actress added, "White man, Black man, white woman, Black woman. So I've always felt at the bottom, never feeling like I was defeated because I was at the bottom, never feeling like I couldn't dream big because I was at the bottom, never feeling like I wasn't worthy or capable because I was at the bottom."

The gorgeously stunning Berry also said, "But I always have known that I'm going to have to work 10 times harder than everybody else to get anywhere."

During the podcast, Berry shared her desire for another Black woman to win the Oscars for Best Actress so she won't be the only one with that title.

She said, "I hope this year someone stands next to me. I hope it happens because I'm tired of occupying that space alone."

Berry's hopes could become a reality in the 2025 Academy Awards' Best Actress category, where only one Black woman, Cynthia Erivo, has been nominated.

Erivo was nominated for her role as Elphaba in "Wicked" and is up against a strong nominee list.

Other actresses nominated for the category include Mikey Madison for "Anora," Demi Moore for "The Substance," Karla Sofia Gascón for "Emilia Pérez," and "Fernanda Torres for "I'm Still Here."

While speaking to Noah, Halle Berry reflected on her Oscars for Best Actress, sharing her belief that she was "chosen" to win the award "to open that door."

She said, "I knew it was bigger than me. Right? But even if it's not, I was chosen in that moment to be a beacon of possibility. And I do think it served that purpose."

During her 2002 acceptance speech for the award, Berry shared similar sentiments, saying, "This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll."

She added, "It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica A. Fox. And it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened."

This is not the first time Berry has spoken out about the lack of Black actresses winning the coveted Oscars for Best Actress.

In September 2024, she expressed her displeasure about the topic, saying she was "saddened" by it every year.

Berry told Marie Claire, "I'm still eternally miffed that no Black woman has come behind me for that Best Actress Oscar, I'm continually saddened by that year after year."

She added, "And it's certainly not because there has been nobody deserving."

While winning an Academy Award for Best Actress is no mean feat, things didn't happen for Halle Berry as she envisaged after her win.

During a 2021 chat with Entertainment Weekly, she said she didn't always get roles she loved but had to take them to make ends meet.

She said, "It's like, okay, that's a film I can't say I'm totally in love with, but this isn't a hobby. It's how I take care of my children."

The "Catwoman" actress added, "But I try to keep that sense of wonder and stay curious. Because being a Black woman, I haven't always had parts that I absolutely love."

The 58-year-old also said of her prospects after her big win in 2002, "It was surprising. Because I thought they were going to just back up the truck and drop them off at my house, right?"

Berry added, "When you have a historic win like that, you think, 'Oh, this is going to fundamentally change.' It did fundamentally change me, but it didn't change my place in the business overnight. I still had to go back to work. I still had to try to fight to make a way out of no way."