<p id=”par-1_46″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/halle-berry/”>Halle Berry</a> chose <em>Bruised</em> as the first film she’d do as a filmmaker, a sports movie so physically intense that <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/halle-berry-broke-her-ribs-the-first-day-of-filming-bruised-and-she-didnt-stop-filming.html/”>it left her with broken ribs</a>. But before she did the movie, Berry went on a spiritual trip that changed both her career and her life.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-halle-berry-had-an-epiphany-about-her-career-after-visiting-india”>Halle Berry had an epiphany about her career after visiting India</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/bruised-halle-berry.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Halle Berry posing in a black outfit at the New York screening of ‘Bruised’.” class=”wp-image-3785884″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Halle Berry | Monica Schipper/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_31″>One of the ways <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/what-is-halle-berrys-age-and-how-does-she-stay-in-shape.html/”>Berry stays in shape</a> is through meditation. Speaking with <a href=”https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a32773256/halle-berry-meditation/”>Women’s Health</a>, the Oscar-winner shared that the art has been a part of her daily routine for decades.</p>
<p id=”par-3_72″>“I typically like to do it first thing in the morning—sometimes for 10 minutes, sometimes for an hour—so that I can start my day from a really grounded place (and because that’s my alone time now that I have kids),” she said. “I’ve always found peace, healing, and solace in meditation—and that’s especially true (and important) right now when we’re amidst so much unrest and it’s so easy to operate out of fear.”</p>
<p id=”par-4_49″>But there came a point where Berry took her meditation to another level. It seemed she’d arrive at a crossroads in her life, and she hoped traveling would help her find her way again. Thanks to her journey, Berry renovated her career and took it in a newer direction.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-2″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe title=”Bruised | Halle Berry | Official Trailer | Netflix” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/EMu8K0l8ggA?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<p id=”par-5_96″>“I had a huge, life-changing moment in 2017 in India during a four-hour group meditation with a shaman on a beach,” Berry said in a 2022 interview with <a href=”https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a32773256/halle-berry-meditation/”>AARP</a>. “I saw his aura, and the shaman told me I would see things more clearly going forward and would need to react and act. And he was right. When I got back to L.A., one of the first things I did was fire my agent, who kept pitching me the same things, over and over. But now I saw it differently. I said, ‘No. I don’t belong here anymore.’”</p>
<p id=”par-6_18″>Berry’s decision paired her with an agent who offered the exact kinds of projects she was looking for.</p>
<p id=”par-7_98″>“The very first project my new agent gave me was <em>Bruised</em>. And this project, in turn, on so many levels, changed my life. It empowered me,” she said. “Sometimes we know something or see something or feel something, and we talk ourselves out of it. I no longer do that. There are also a ton of personal things that I suddenly saw clearly and thought, <em>Nope!</em> That’s how I live today. All the goodness I have in my life now is because of that moment in India, because I started to take control of my life in a different way.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-halle-berry-channeled-her-own-real-life-experiences-for-bruised”>Halle Berry channeled her own real-life experiences for ‘Bruised’</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-3″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe title=”Halle Berry shares how she made upcoming role in ‘Bruised’ her own l GMA” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/zf-EVZ_PeWU?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/halle-berry-checked-adrien-brodys-girlfriend-georgina-chapman-oscars-kiss.html/”>
Halle Berry Checked With Adrien Brody’s Girlfriend, Georgina Chapman, Before That Oscars Kiss </a>
</p>
</div>
<p id=”par-8_39″>Berry<em> </em>was far from the first choice to star in <em>Bruised</em>. Initially, a <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/halle-berrys-bruised-originally-met-21-year-old-irish-actor.html/”>21-year-old Irish actor</a> was supposed to be the movie’s star. But the material resonated with Berry so much that she felt compelled to direct the project.</p>
<p id=”par-9_41″>“Directors I respected told me, ‘For your directorial debut, let it be something you love and something you know about.’ From the moment I read the script, it was a part of me. I was aching to tell it,” she said.</p>
<p id=”par-10_21″>Additionally, Berry connected with her character’s story having lived through many of the hardships she had to experience in the project.</p>
<p id=”par-11_149″>“And this story was a world I knew — domestic violence, for one thing. Not only have I worked with a shelter for 25 years, but it’s how I grew up as a young child, with an alcoholic, violent father,” Berry said. “As a kid, I saw my mother beaten up and I know the horror and helplessness a kid feels. I remember my mother feeling humiliated by what her children had to witness. I’m sure parts of what are in my subconscious and in my memory, even these decades later, came out through me in this film. While some people might watch it and think, <em>That’s harsh,</em> it felt normal to me, which is how I knew it was true. And I knew that I had to go toward the truth and not be afraid of putting this light in these dark places, because so many suffer from domestic violence.”</p>