AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In the new film "Crime 101," a series of high-profile robberies take place up and down Highway 101, close to Los Angeles. Halle Berry plays Sharon Combs, a disillusioned insurance broker who sells policies to the city's wealthy elite. She crosses paths with jewel thief Mike Davis, played by Chris Hemsworth, who's angling for her help in pulling off one final heist that will set him up for life.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CRIME 101")
HALLE BERRY: (As Sharon Combs) Got the clothes, the cars. But you can't seem to look me in the eye. And I bet you didn't grow up with money.
CHRIS HEMSWORTH: (As Mike Davis) How do you figure that?
BERRY: (As Sharon Combs) Because people who grow up in chaos crave order.
HEMSWORTH: (As Mike Davis) You ain't talking about me, are you?
BERRY: (As Sharon Combs) Maybe both.
RASCOE: Oscar winner Halle Berry joins us now from Los Angeles. Welcome to the program.
BERRY: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
RASCOE: We're first introduced to your character, Sharon, when you're standing in front of the mirror. You're putting on your makeup. And in that moment, of course, you look beautiful, but there's also, like, a vulnerability there. How does Sharon view herself and her place in the world?
BERRY: I think Sharon is not unlike how I feel in the world. She is down that path of life, and she is starting to question her worth and her value primarily because society and the workplace is signaling to her that her time is up. I think she's starting to feel a bit invisible, like many of us do when we get down the path of life, and I think she's at a crossroads, you know? She's questioning, what will she do about it?
RASCOE: You said you felt similarities with her. Do you feel like with your illustrious career, with all that you've done, all that you've accomplished - do you feel like you've gotten the recognition that you deserve?
BERRY: I don't really know what recognition I deserve, but I do know that I've been able to work in this business for a very long time. This is my 30th year. So I know that I'm still here. I know I have so much more to give. It's hard as I approach 60, but the truth is, it's always been hard. It was hard when I was 21. This is just another item I put in my backpack that I have to carry now that I'm down the path of life. I now have ageism to lump into racism and sexism. Now I have ageism to worry about. And I feel up to the challenge.
RASCOE: There's this really powerful scene in the film when your character decides to confront her boss, played by Paul Adelstein, about how she's been overlooked for a promotion for years.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CRIME 101")
PAUL ADELSTEIN: (As Mark) You think one of our competitors is just gonna snatch you up 'cause you're going to present them the numbers? I got a number for you, Sharon - 53. It's not a good number for women in this business, is it? - because we know what those rich guys are really buying, and it's not 53.
RASCOE: Obviously, there are a lot of women out there who will relate to what that scene is trying to tell them and trying to reject that feeling.
BERRY: Yeah. That scene, to me, makes me go, ouch. It's - yeah, it's cringe.
RASCOE: It does. I mean, it does.
BERRY: Yeah. And, you know, so many women have felt that way, and we often feel that we age out of our positions. And when we should be revered and we should get promotions, and we should be applauded for our efforts and our wisdom that we bring to our workplace after 20, 30 years, many of us find ourselves replaced and discarded. And we just have to start saying no to that.
RASCOE: One of your co-stars, Chris Hemsworth, said, at first he was very intimidated being around you because he admired your work over the years. And Mark Ruffalo said something similar, that he was worried about messing up or he felt like he messed up his lines more because he was just so in awe of working with you. Did you see any of that from your costars?
BERRY: Yeah, but they're just silly. They're just silly.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
BERRY: It wasn't me. Mark just needs to work harder on his lines. That's all.
(LAUGHTER)
BERRY: He needed to do more homework. That's all.
RASCOE: Yes.
BERRY: It was not me.
RASCOE: So it was - that's on them.
BERRY: I'm not taking the blame for all that.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
BERRY: You know, I know they say it jokingly, but I think what they mean to say is just we all had a healthy respect for each other, and we were all a bit nervous. You know, whenever you work with people who are at the top of their game and you know they're bringing their A game to the set every day, it just forces you to bring yours and rise to the level.
RASCOE: Well, you're working on a lot of projects these days. What types of projects are you hoping to bring to screen?
BERRY: I want to bring movies to the screen that are produced, written and directed by women. I think we need so much more of that. I want to make movies with a female gaze because, you know, what I've learned is that there have been women in movies from the beginning of time. But if you really think about it, we have been in movies, and we've been characterized largely by males and the male point of view of how they see us, but it's not really how we are. I really see and I feel a difference when I see a woman write a story for a woman or direct a movie for a woman. I really see myself reflected in a way that feels deeper.
RASCOE: As you said, you're turning 60 this year, and you feel like your - it's your second groove, and it's just getting started. Is that what your second groove looks like, making those sorts of projects?
BERRY: Yeah, that and my company Respin, my menopause company, and helping women down the path of life get the medical and health care that they deserve, trying to help them manage this beautiful time of life that we arrive to. But we can only it can only be beautiful if we know what to do. You know better, you do better. So I have really given a lot of time and energy, and I will continue to fighting for women's rights, fighting to get money for more therapies, for more clinical trials, for doctors to get retooled so that we actually can understand what's happening to our bodies over 40.
RASCOE: You've talked about it so much, and I do think that it is incredible to have Halle Berry talking about menopause because, you know, you're like, known as one of the most beautiful women on the planet, "Bond" Girl, sex appeal. And then you're talking about menopause. A lot of women have not felt sexy about menopause, right? Like, menopause was, like, a shameful thing. You don't want to talk about it, right?
BERRY: And that's the problem. It needs a rebrand. It's a privilege to age. Sexy is as sexy does. Like, what is sexy? It's a state of mind. It's a feeling. It's a being. It's not so tied up to our physical self. That's a shallow way to look at it. I find many women in their 50s and 60s and 70s so sexy because they have confidence. They have grace. They know who they are. They have zero Fs to give. To me, that is sexy.
RASCOE: So it's like, love yourself, right? Love what you got.
BERRY: Love yourself. When we're in that box looking straight up, or we're drawing our last breath preparing to be in that box, looking straight up, we will not care about any of this nonsense. We will just have a flash of the life we lived, and I hope to God that we as women have lived it to the fullest.
RASCOE: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I know that you recently got engaged. I want to say congratulations on that. Like, how does that feel, to be taking that leap again?
BERRY: I've learned to never say never.
RASCOE: (LAUGHTER)
BERRY: The fourth time is the new charm.
RASCOE: Well, as long as it's right, you know?
BERRY: Yeah.
RASCOE: And the other ones, they say they don't count after they fall off your record after a few years.
BERRY: I don't believe that. They all count. They were all part of my growing, part of the lessons I had to learn. I learned a lot. I've got my two gorgeous children who are the love of my life. I got them through those relationships. So I took some time alone. About four years, I was completely celibate and dated no one, and I thought, oh, God, after three divorces, it's time to sit it on down, girl, and, like, do some work and figure out why you keep recreating this for yourself. And I had to look in the mirror, and I realized we bring to us what we are. So I had to get whole before I could draw in another whole human being. I know I have it right now because I'm whole, he's whole, and we don't complete each other. We were complete when we met each other. We just love being on this ride together.
RASCOE: Yes. Well, that is wonderful. Congratulations. That is Halle Berry, whose film "Crime 101" is now in theaters. Thank you so much for joining us. It's such a fun conversation.
BERRY: Thank you so much for having me. It was fun.
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