Facts You Didn’t Know About Halle Berry and Her Career

Boomerang actress Halle Berry got her big break in the 1992 romantic comedy film alongside Eddie Murphy. It was only just the start of her impressive Hollywood career full of inspiring performances. Fans of the Golden Globe winner may be shocked to find that there are some facts about her they might not know.

Halle, born in 1966, grew up in Ohio. She moved to New York City after college to pursue a career in show business. In 1989, she snagged the role of Emily Franklin in Living Dolls for 12 episodes. The show only lasted one season. The Revlon spokesmodel searched for more television and film opportunities in Los Angeles before snagging a role in 1991’s Jungle Fever.

Throughout the ‘90s, Halle appeared in Father Hood, The Flinstones and Bulworth. It was her role in the 1999 television film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge that earned the beauty her first-ever Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture – Television.

In 2001, Halle earned praise for her performance of Leticia Musgrove in Monster’s Ball. She won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. The following year, the mom of two became a Bond Girl in Die Another Day, the 20th movie in the James Bond series. It was a role that stuck out to her as one of her favorites, even two decades after the film was released.

“I was really excited about Bond because that’s a franchise that’s iconic,” she told Vanity Fair in December 2021. “It’s a part of film history, really, so to be a part of that franchise was very meaningful to me. And this version of a Bond woman was very different than any Bond woman I had seen before.”

On top of her career as a world-renowned actress and producer, Halle is a full-time mom. She welcomed her daughter, Nahla Aubry, with her ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry, in 2008. Her son, Maceo Robert Martinez, with her third ex-husband, Olivier Martinez, was born in 2013. The Hollywood icon was married to her first husband, David Justice, from 1993 to 1997. She was married to her second husband, Eric Benét, from 2001 to 2005. Years later, Halle made her relationship with boyfriend Van Hunt Instagram official in September 2020.

“I have this new amazing love in my life. Because of COVID, we spent four months talking on the phone,” she told AARP about her beau in January 2022. “We were forced to only let our brains connect and discover if we had a connection before our bodies decided to get involved. I’d never done it this way. We talked for hours and hours and hours and hours and never got tired. I fell in love with his mind, his conversation. I realized: I really like him. I really liked who he was, and I can’t say I felt that way before.”

Keep scrolling to learn five facts about Halle that you might not know.

She’s Done Several Films With Hugh Jackman

Halle has shared the big screen with some of the most famous actors in the world including Robert Downey Jr., John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. She frequently appears in films with Hugh Jackman, her longtime friend and costar. The pair have starred in six films together: X-Men, Swordfish, X-Men 2, X-Men: The Last Stand, Movie 43 and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

She’s an Animal Lover

In 2004 while Halle was filming Catwoman, she decided to adopt a cat from the film’s set. “I’ve always lived with people who had allergies to cats, so I never could entertain the idea of getting one, because I would have been living alone,” she told The Associated Press at the time. “And now that I do live alone, it’s a great time to get a cat.”

Prince Is One of Her Favorite Artists

Music is a huge part of the actress’ life. She starred in the music video for Limp Bizkit’s “Behind Blue Eyes” in 2003. One of her favorite music artists of all time is her late friend, Prince.

“My first concert was Prince. That man, his music changed my childhood and my teenage years. He got me through some s–! I was a huge, admiring fan of his, and I became a friend of his during his lifetime,” she told The Undefeated in August 2017.

Her Kids Inherited Her Sense of Humor

After all of her time in the spotlight, fans know that Halle has a great sense of humor. Luckily, both Nahla and Maceo know just how to make their mom laugh.

“Being a mom is the best job, but my kids don’t care about who I am outside of this house. My daughter got a sense of who I am from friends at school,” she told InStyle in August 2019. “And — this is funny — for the last year, my son has been saying my full name really loudly in public like, ‘Halle Berry, can you pass me the ketchup?’ It’s just so embarrassing! He knows it gets a reaction from people, but he can’t quite figure out why.”