‘It’s a needed voice in the world’: Halle Berry on her directorial debut

Published

4 years ago

November 17, 2021

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Halle Berry’s directorial debut may include some of the movie tropes we’re familiar with.

A fighter who’s been written off returning to the ring, a parent trying to turn things around when an estranged child comes back in to their life and a woman manipulated by the man who supposedly loves her.

But Berry’s gritty drama Bruised sees the themes reframed and told from the perspective of a black woman – which isn’t something audiences will be so familiar with.

The star – who made history when she became the first and only African-American woman to win the best actress Oscar in 2002 – says now she’s made the movie she appreciates the value of telling the story from her point of view.

“I think now having had this opportunity to tell the story from my gaze – a black female – I think I realise even more having done it, how important it is, how important it is to get a diverse story out in the world,” Berry told Sky News.

“And as I’ve been talking to people about it and having them say it was hard hitting and it was, ‘wow, that was harsh’, and I’m thinking, ‘well, yeah, imagine living it, you know, it’s hard for you to watch it, imagine if that’s your reality’.”

“And the truth is, this is the reality of so many people, and so bringing some light to this subject really is important, and it takes people who’ve lived it, who understand it from this point of view, meaning black females, to tell these stories, and I think it’s a needed voice in the world.”

In the film Berry plays aging MMA fighter Jackie Justice, who accepts an offer to get back in the ring while also dealing with the unexpected return of her 6-year-old son.

The character is fighting on all fronts – fellow women in the ring and various demons and issues outside the sport.

Ultimately the film is about the power of women – a subject Berry wants to see more of on screen.

“As women we’ve been marginalised, you know, and especially as black women, we’ve been severely marginalised,” she said.

“So this is a way of not only getting our power back, but it’s also putting our stories out there and acknowledging that our stories have value, our lives are valuable, our experiences are valuable, our points of view are valuable.

“And this is one way for us to sort of get that out into the world through art in this way.”

It’s almost two decades since Berry’s historic Oscar win, and since then there’s been pressure on Hollywood to be more inclusive, with the MeToo movement and open conversations about how to address a lack of diversity in the industry.

The 55-year-old says she’s certainly seen things change during her career.

“I mean, look around – when I started 30 years ago, there were very few women of colour doing the things that we’re doing today, I look around, they’re everywhere today, and that’s true, they are.

“We’re living a new reality than we were when I started – I was making a way very much out of no way, I was the only one, I was one of the few, and now there’s many of us out here living our dreams, you know, telling stories, having great roles to play.

“So yeah, I do think things are changing – more female directors than ever before, producers… Is change slow? Most change is, but I see great strides and I see how we’re growing and the growth is really real.”

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Despite her years of experience on sets, Berry said taking on the role of director has given her a fresh perspective on the way that films are made.

She says it will definitely change how she sees things as an actress in the future.

“Once you wear this skin and you actually are in charge of an entire production, you realise now why certain decisions were made,” she explained.

“I mean, when I was just an actor, I used to always wonder ‘now why would they schedule the scenes like this? This makes no sense, this is making our job as actors indelibly harder’ – now having been on the other side, I do understand now there’s a reason that has nothing to do with you, actor.

“There’s a bigger thing at play here, there’s other departments, other elements that go into putting a day together and budgeting a film and boarding a film – it’s not always about what’s going to be best for the actors to perform their roles.

“So I now will never ask a director again ‘and why did you schedule this like this? This makes no sense’. Never again.

Bruised is available to stream on Netflix.

Entertainment

Prosecutors give closing arguments in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial

Published

9 hours ago

June 26, 2025

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Prosecutors give closing arguments in Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial

Sean “Diddy” Combs led a criminal enterprise for two decades, using “power, violence and fear” to carry out brutal crimes, believing his “fame, wealth and power” put him above the law, a prosecutor has told his trial.

Christy Slavik spoke for nearly five hours, as she presented the prosecution’s closing arguments after more than six weeks of testimony and 34 witnesses.

She began by describing the 55-year-old music mogul, telling the court: “He’s the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. And now you know about many crimes he committed with members of his enterprise.”

She said charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy were supported by proof that over two decades, Combs kidnapped one of his employees, committed arson by trying to blow up fellow rapper Kid Cudi’s car, engaged in forced labour, bribed a security officer and carried out the “brutal crimes at the heart of this case.”

Diddy trial: As it happened

Ms Slavik said Combs “again and again forced, threatened and manipulated” his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura and an ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym Jane into drugged-up, elaborate sexual performances, dubbed “freak offs” or “hotel” or “king nights”.

“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” she said. “He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law.”

Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking, and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has strenuously denied all allegations of sexual abuse.

Ms Slavik said Combs used a “small army” of employees – his trusted inner circle of staff including bodyguards and assistants – to “serve his needs,” covering up his harm to women in the process.

Homing in on the racketeering charge against him, she said, while Combs was already “very powerful”, he became even more so with the support of his business.

She said Combs and his inner circle “committed hundreds of racketeering acts,” including drug distribution, kidnapping, arson and witness tampering.

They listed drugs such as cocaine, meth, ketamine, Oxycodone and MDMA, that Combs’s assistants said they procured for him, or that federal agents said they found during raids of his multiple homes.

During parts of the evidence, Combs looked dejected, sitting with his head down, and with his chair pushed back from the defence table. At one point, when video footage of Combs appearing to beat Cassie at the InterContinental Hotel was shown to the court, he looked away.

Combs has been in a New York jail since his arrest in September last year. If convicted on all counts, he could face a minimum 15-year prison term and could be sentenced to life behind bars.

The 12-member jury must be unanimous to convict Combs on any of the counts.

Defence lawyers have conceded that Combs was involved in domestic violence but say he committed no federal crimes.

They say the women took part in the “freak offs” willingly and that there was no racketeering conspiracy because none of his employees agreed to be part of any conspiracy. They say the drugs procured were for his own personal use.

But in her closing argument, Ms Slavik said employees repeatedly agreed to commit crimes for Combs, such as delivering him drugs, accompanying him to kidnap his personal assistant, Capricorn Clark, and locking his girlfriend in a hotel room after he stomped on her face.

In her conclusion, she said proof of Combs’s guilt had been demonstrated, adding: “Before today, he was able to get away with it due to his money, power and influence, but that stops now…

“It is time to hold him accountable, it is time for justice, and it’s time to find him guilty.”

On Friday, Combs’s lead attorney Marc Agnifilo will give his closing argument, followed by the government’s rebuttal.

Judge Arun Subramanian says he will instruct the jury on the law later that day, allowing them to begin deliberating as early as late afternoon.

The trial continues.

Entertainment

Jeff Bezos’s Venice wedding celebrations begin with star-studded party after fresh protests

Published

10 hours ago

June 26, 2025

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Jeff Bezos's Venice wedding celebrations begin with star-studded party after fresh protests

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s star-studded wedding celebrations in Venice have begun, with VIP guests including the Kardashians descending on the Italian city.

The billionaire Amazon founder and his journalist fiancee waved to onlookers as they left a luxury hotel to travel to their pre-wedding reception by water taxi on Thursday evening.

Hollywood star Orlando Bloom was seen flashing a peace sign to fans as he left Venice’s Gritti Palace Hotel and he was soon followed by TV presenter Oprah Winfrey, who smiled and waved.

Kim and Khloe Kardashian travelled to the reception with their mother Kris Jenner – who snapped a picture of the pair on a water taxi – and other notable figures in town for the nuptials include Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Some 200-250 A-list guests from showbusiness, politics and finance are expected to attend the events, with the wedding and its parts estimated to cost €40m-€48m (£34m-£41m).

Bezos, his soon-to-be wife and their famous guests have taken over numerous locations in the city, with the couple staying in the luxury Aman hotel, where rooms go for at least €4,000 per night.

The first of the weekend’s many wedding parties is taking place in the cloisters of Madonna dell’Orto, a medieval church that hosts masterpieces by 16th century painter Tintoretto.

While the couple and their A-list guests were all smiles, some in Venice are not happy about the wedding – with protesters seeing it as an example of the city being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders.

An activist climbed one of the poles in the main St Mark’s Square on Thursday, unfurling a banner which said: “The 1% ruins the world.”

Elsewhere, a life-size mannequin of Bezos clutching an Amazon box was dropped into one of the city’s famous canals.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding in numbers

€48m price tag

The wedding and its parts are expected to cost €40m-€48m (£34-£41m), Luca Zaia, the president of Venice’s local government, said on Tuesday.

This includes sizeable charity donations from the Amazon founder, including €1m (£850k) to Corila, a consortium that studies Venice’s lagoon ecosystem, local media has reported.

90 private jets

The first private jets began landing at Venice airport on Tuesday and there will be around 90 in total, Mr Zaia said.

They’re not all arriving in Venice though, as some have landed at the nearby Treviso and Verona airports.

250 guests

Five of the city’s most luxurious hotels have been booked out to host an estimated 200-250 guests.

These include the celeb favourite Cipriani, where George and Amal Clooney married in 2014.

30 water taxis

Attendees of course aren’t hopping on public water buses to get around the city’s many islands.

The wedding’s organisers have booked at least 30 water taxis for them to use instead.

In a bid to keep demonstrators away from Thursday’s party, the city council banned pedestrians and water traffic from the area surrounding the venue, from 4.30pm local time to midnight.

The couple will exchange their vows on Friday, on the small island of San Giorgio, opposite St Mark’s Square.

Another party will follow on Saturday – the venue for which was changed at the last-minute earlier this week.

Entertainment

Denis Villeneuve: Director of next James Bond film announced – and says he’s a ‘diehard 007 fan’

Published

1 day ago

June 26, 2025

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Denis Villeneuve: Director of next James Bond film announced - and says he's a 'diehard 007 fan'

The director of the next James Bond film has been announced.

Denis Villeneuve – a four-time Academy Award nominee who earned critical acclaim for the Dune Franchise and Blade Runner 2049 – said the role is a “massive responsibility”.

The Canadian filmmaker described himself as a “diehard” fan since childhood, adding that it is a “huge honour” to come on board.

“Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr No with Sean Connery,” Villeneuve said.

Reassuring fans, the director continued: “To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honour the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come.”

His appointment comes as the British spy franchise experiences a major overhaul, with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson handing over creative control to Amazon MGM Studios.

The Broccoli family have long been the force behind the Bond films, and now co-own the intellectual property.

Two recently appointed producers – Spider-Man’s Amy Pascal and Harry Potter’s David Heyman – said securing a director and developing a screenplay were top priorities before deciding who would succeed Daniel Craig in the role.

The head of Amazon MGM Studios, Mike Hopkins, described Villeneuve as a “cinematic master whose filmography speaks for itself”.

He added: “Denis has delivered compelling worlds, dynamic visuals, complex characters, and – most importantly – the immersive storytelling that global audiences yearn to experience in theatres.

“James Bond is in the hands of one of today’s greatest filmmakers and we cannot wait to get started on 007’s next adventure.”