<p id=”par-1_37″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/halle-berry/”>Halle Berry</a> became one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/halle-berry-says-her-oscar-win-was-one-of-her-biggest-heartbreaks.html/”>having won Oscars</a> and starred in blockbusters. But if she realized just how crazy the world of celebrity was earlier, Berry might’ve gone down a different path.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-halle-berry-once-revealed-what-she-would-ve-done-if-she-wasn-t-an-actor”>Halle Berry once revealed what she would’ve done if she wasn’t an actor</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” fetchpriority=”high” width=”1200″ height=”828″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=’Halle Berry attends the “Bruised” New York Screening in a black outfit.’ class=”wp-image-3654050″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?w=640&h=442 640w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?w=1024&h=707 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?w=768&h=530 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?w=507&h=350 507w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?w=245&h=169 245w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?w=200&h=138 200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?w=735&h=507 735w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Halle-Berry-Actor-1.jpg?w=87&h=60 87w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Halle Berry | Johnny Nunez/WireImage</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_22″>Berry didn’t always have her sights set on acting. She initially went to school in the hopes of finding more traditional work.</p>
<p id=”par-3_30″>“I was going to college, I wanted to be a journalist,” Berry once told <em><a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwbAHaFgxW0&ab_channel=BlackTreeTV”>BlackTree TV</a></em>. “I wanted to be a news anchor, or travel the far seas and report.”</p>
<p id=”par-4_15″>But Berry’s motivations changed when she ended up taking a summer class on a whim.</p>
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<iframe title=”Halle Berry Talks how ‘acting’ chose her | Kidnap Movie” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/SwbAHaFgxW0?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>
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<p id=”par-5_99″>“It’s when I was living in Chicago, I took a class in second city, just for s***s and giggles. Just because I was having a boring summer and just wanted to do something with myself. And through that experience, one of my teachers there said, ‘I really think you should be an actor, I think you have just a natural talent.’ I never thought of that. But because I so respected that school and this teacher, I decided to take a detour and check that out. And then one thing led to the next, and then here I am.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_42″>But although Berry’s acting career went more than well, there was one aspect of superstardom she could’ve done without. If the actor knew that her chosen career would cost <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/halle-berry-says-her-oscar-win-was-one-of-her-biggest-heartbreaks.html/”>the <em>X-Men </em>star</a> her personal life, she most likely would’ve done something else.</p>
<p id=”par-7_83″>“I wish that I had really understood the toll that it would take on my personal life. The invasion of my personal life that being an actor would cause. I really would have thought twice, three times, about it had I known 20 years ago that I wouldn’t be able to get gas in my car or take my daughter to school without a band of people following me. I’m not so sure I would have done this job,” she once told <a href=”https://blavity.com/halle-berry-morris-chestnut-talk-to-sa-about-the-call-and-a-lot-of-other-stuff-too”>Blavity</a>.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-halle-berry-had-to-beg-for-roles-because-she-was-seen-as-too-beautiful”>Halle Berry had to beg for roles because she was seen as too beautiful</h2>
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<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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Halle Berry Explained Why ‘Struggling’ for Acting Roles Due to Aging Would Feel Normal </a>
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<p id=”par-8_57″>Berry’s looks might’ve worked in her favor, but they could also work against her at times. When she was first considered for <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/halle-berry-spike-lee-heated-argument-parents-divorce.html/”>Spike Lee’s <em>Jungle Fever</em></a><em>, </em>she was initially tapped to play the director’s wife in the picture. But she wanted to play a far less glamorous part, which Lee had reservations about because of Berry’s face.</p>
<p id=”par-9_87″>“Spike Lee wanted me to read for the part of his wife and I read that part fine enough, but then I said to Spike, ‘You know I really am eyeing this crack ho role, can you please let me audition for that?’ And he said, ‘No, no I don’t see you as the crack ho,’” Berry once told <em>W Magazine</em>. (via <a href=”https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3789915/Halle-Berry-BEG-roles-deemed-beautiful-W-Magazine-interview.html”>Daily Mail</a>) “I said, ‘I am the crack ho. Really deep down I’m the crack ho.’ And he was like, ‘No, I don’t see it.’”</p>
<p id=”par-10_32″>She eventually acquired the role, and proved her ability to play a wide range of characters. But her looks continued to put a barrier between herself and the roles she truly wanted.</p>
<p id=”par-11_90″>“Yeah, it was intentional to not play the gorgeous girl,” she added. “I came from the world of beauty pageants and modeling and right away when people heard that I got discounted as an actor. So, I had the job of trying to eliminate that part of my persona, and Spike gave me a chance to do that. And I took on roles early on that really didn’t rely on my physical self at all and that was a good way to sort of get some credibility within my industry.”</p>