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• SHOUTOUTS
• Don't Worry, Bee Happy

This Issue 04/12/2007

Also in this issue

• Ego of the week
• Of all the gin joints in Philly: Fling
• Notes on a festival
• Babel

On tour promoting her sexy new suspense thriller Perfect Stranger -- no, not an adaptation of that 80's sitcom with Balki Bartokomous - Oscar-winner Halle Berry had a quick chat with 34ST.

STREET: What have you not yet accomplished in your film career? Is there anyone you need to work with? Are there any types of movies you hope to make?

Halle Berry: I really want to do a romantic comedy. I haven't really done that yet in my career. I'd like to work with George Clooney one day, before I die. I've wanted to work with Denzel Washington for a while, but it'll probably never happen. I'd really like to work with Steven Spielberg. And Woody Allen, but I'd probably never be right for a Woody Allen movie.

STREET: They're all Jewish people from New York.

HB: Yeah, I'm not Jewish, but those are all people I like and respect.

STREET: Do you want to write that romantic comedy?

HB: I'm producing one right now for myself called Nappily Ever After.

STREET: What's that about?

HB: It's a chick flick, and I say that in the best possible way. But it's also a movie that men can get too, because men deal with women. They know women. They have a mother, or they have a sister, so men can relate to it too. And it's about how much time we as women invest in our hair. And if our hair's not right, we're not right. And it becomes the way we identify ourselves, by our hair. In this movie, my character starts off very invested in her hair. As a kid, her mother wouldn't let her jump in the water because she would get the 'fro, so she had to miss out on a lot of fun as a kid, so she grew up into this adult who just cared about her hair. And through the course of the movie, something happens and her hair gets messed up. She loses her hair and chooses to shave her head off completely bald, and now she's got to deal with who she really is without the mask of her hair. She has a Jewish friend who has a 'fro as well when her hair's not straightened. Through my character, the other women in the movie sort of find their power, and it's really not through their hair at all. This movie is a funny look at this craziness that surrounds women and their hair and our identity. It will be out some time this year. The reason why it's called Nappily Ever After is that she's about to get married when the movie starts, and because she goes bald, she has to rethink her whole relationship and she has to rethink many things.

STREET: I'll be bald in less than five years, so I'll look to this film for inspiration.

HB: Men have to go through real soul-searching when that happens. It's true.

STREET: I'm willing to accept my fate.

HB: How do you know you're going to be bald?

STREET: I know. I'm on my way already, don't worry about me.
Do you mind talking about race? Is it the kind of thing that you've come to embrace? Do you want to be seen only as an actress without skin color being considered in the equation?