Some actors are stars. Halle Berry is a legend.
Throughout her career, Berry has tackled an incredibly wide spectrum of roles across genres: comedy, horror, drama, sci-fi, fantasy. She is the first (and still only) Black performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, for the 2001 film Monster’s Ball. She’s also one of the few actors of any color to win an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year (the latter for Catwoman) — and show up in person to accept both.
In an industry fixated on youthfulness, 59-year-old Berry embraces her many years as a screen fixture like few others. Though it might be unseemly to highlight her age, the detail figures heavily into the part she plays in Crime 101, the new Los Angeles-based thriller written and directed by Bart Layton. Opposite Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Barry Keoghan, Berry plays Sharon Colvin, an insurance broker who partners with a master thief on a grand heist after the firm that she works for begins devaluing her considerable skills. The actress brought her lived experience to the role, harnessing both the tenacity and frustration that comes from aspiring to success once you’re considered to be on the less appealing side of 50.
Berry recently spoke to Screen Rant about Crime 101 and playing a role that in many ways hit close to home. In addition to discussing the influences and inspirations for this L.A. crime saga, she reflected on the places where her life and her character’s aligned, and finally talked a bit about the cultural footprint she’s left in the world of superheroes and popular music.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Watching the trailer for this, I was immediately reminded of Dominic Sena’s Swordfish, where you play a facilitator in a larger criminal plan. This film ends up being much different, but do you ever look back on a past role and use it as a little ammunition to help prepare for a new one?
Halle Berry: Not usually. I approach everyone as a different character, different scenario, different set of players. So very rarely do I look back to other characters for inspiration. I hadn’t even made the connection until you just said it, if I’m honest.
They end up not being alike at all, but this reminded me of it.
Berry: I get what you meant — yeah, you’re absolutely 100% right. But when I’m kind of done with a film, then that becomes the past.
Bart brings this sort of wonderful “Heat” energy to this film — you can’t watch this movie and not think of that. When you came into this, was there a shorthand of going, “If we really hit our target, this is the kind of movie we want to make?”
Berry: Absolutely — it’s the kind of movie that I wanted to see as a real grown-up adult. It’s a sexy crime thriller that’s propulsive, beautifully shot, that has all this action. You know I love my action movies. But it also has a heart. There are characters that you care about. And I thought it was the perfect storm. And we talked about Heat when I had my first meeting with him, and Collateral, like a throwback to those very adult movies. And Bart comes from the world of documentary, so he comes from that gritty, realism world. And I thought if he could bring that to life through these characters in this movie, we’d be doing something that we haven’t seen for a bit now, and that I think audiences would really appreciate.
Looking at Sharon, which challenge in this story was tougher to play, the crime element or her being this woman in middle management trying to ascend the corporate ladder?
Berry: I think middle management. That was the emotional button for me that hit my character really hard, realizing that you are a woman who should be leveling up because you have the experience, the time, the knowledge. You’ve worked hard, and you realize that you’re being aged out of it. That was a really important message for me and hard only in the sense that it was very emotional for me. Because that’s where I’m at in my real life. So sometimes when our real life does come through our work, it becomes more than a character. It becomes personal. And this movie, this character was really very personal for me.
I understand that you asked Bart to put some things into the big speech Sharon gives that came from your own life. How cathartic was it to deliver on screen?
Berry: Oh my God, that was so yummy. We shot that towards the end of shooting and I couldn’t wait for my character to have that moment — to realize her power and to take it back. I think as women, we don’t do that often enough. We don’t stand up for ourselves. We’re often afraid to speak our truth for fear of being fired or being discarded or we’re going to hurt someone’s feelings. There’s a sundry of reasons why we don’t speak up. And so to be a woman that had the courage to speak up and to have zero fucks to give anymore at that point, when she realized really what was happening, was just liberating. And I think there’s so many women that will see themselves in that character and do a little cheer.
To your point, this movie is very much a rejoinder to the sadly conventional Hollywood wisdom that older women lead less exciting or enjoyable lives. Are you actively seeking roles like this going forward? Are they there to seek in the first place?
Berry: I’m actively seeking it, because you know why? That’s where I’m at. And if I want to play my age and play what’s believable for me, these are the kinds of roles I’m going to be playing. They all won’t have this kind of voice and this won’t be the plot and this won’t be the character or the story, but I can only sit in the skin that I’m in and whatever role I’m playing. And as I’ve gotten older, then the roles change and I’m just violently excited about playing characters at this stage of my life. And no, they’re not always out there, but having my own production company, Halle Holly, I have a big hand now in creating those opportunities, not only for myself, but for other women. And I feel really blessed that I’m still in the business. I can still work in the way that I work, and I can still have a hand in creating these opportunities. I think these stories are really important to tell. These women need to be represented.
How much are you taking the reins and creating these opportunities? Are you finding that Hollywood is even marginally more receptive to providing more complex roles for women past a certain age?
Berry: I think they are marginally receptive, but we still have to keep our foot on the gas, and on their necks. We have to keep being loud about it. We have to keep fighting. I’ve been fighting my entire career as a Black woman. Nothing has ever come easy for me. Winning that Oscar, while that was one of the highlights of my career, and it changed my life in many ways, the script truck with all the best scripts didn’t exactly back up to my front door after. I had the highest honor of my industry, but yet there was no work really befitting of having that award. And that was like 20 some years ago. So I’ve had a long 20 years trying to figure out, okay, now that I have this thing, how has it changed my situation? And the truth is, it didn’t really change it very much. I still had to fight. And luckily for me, I’ve been fighting my whole life, so it didn’t scare me away. And I can still be here at now 60, still working and still fighting because I’m up for the fight. Do I love that I have to fight? No, but I’m grateful that I can.
Are there directorial projects that you are actively developing right now?
Berry: There’s one that I’ve been developing for a while. That’s going to take a big chunk [of time and energy]. When I directed my first film, that took almost three years out of my life. I had to fight and I had a lot of training to do. Maybe the next one won’t be quite as long. But it’s very different from when you’re just behind the camera; you do your job and then you’re done. So I have to find the moment to spend two years of my life working on one project. And when I do, I will definitely. And I do have a project that I’ve been working on and working on with some writers and writing and getting it together.
You talk about your affection for action. I know that you’re not appearing in Avengers: Doomsday, but I’m curious how gratifying it has been to see the outpouring of affection for the Fox X-Men as they have been reunited with the Marvel Universe?
Berry: I’ve loved that. Storm is a very special character to me. I’ve been so blessed when I gotten play her, and [explore] the whole world of the X-Men and being mutants and outcasts. And they’ve been movies that I’ve been proud to have my children watch; they have so much to say that I thought has been really important, especially for my children as they’ve grown. So they’re beloved. And while I’m sad I won’t be in Doomsday this round, there are other rounds. And I would do that in a heartbeat.
You throughout your career have created such a representational complexity of Black characters on screen. Have you reached a place where you feel free as an actor to really take any role without worrying about some degree of external opinion-making or criticism?
Berry: I’ve never worried about external criticism and what people think about what I do. Luckily for me, I’ve always realized I have the right to play any role I want to play. And sometimes I choose roles because of the social commentary and what this will mean. Like this movie in Crime 101, this character has something very important to say that I think is very relevant to women right now, and relevant to a cause that I’m championing women in midlife: menopause. I have a company I’ve built around the issue. But that’s not always what I’m thinking about. Usually it’s a character that I think I can play. Something about that character resonates with me, it poses a challenge for me, something I’ve never done. So I don’t always think about social relevance of it or carrying my entire community on my back. I think that can be a killer for an artist. We have to be free to make choices that move us.
As a longtime hip-hop fan, you are probably the most talked about actress in the genre’s history. Is there a single song that’s your favorite that mentions you?
Berry: You know what? I get asked this all the time, but I’m not stupid enough to pick a favorite. They’ve all been beautiful homages to me, my career, to how people feel about me. I’m always surprised when another one drops, to be honest. But I love them all. I really do. I’ve always been flattered by it, and it’s just amazing that I’m so thought of in that way. So I can’t pick a favorite.
Crime 101
- Release Date
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February 13, 2026
- Runtime
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140 Minutes
- Director
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Bart Layton
- Writers
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Bart Layton, Peter Straughan