When Halle Berry became the first African American to be awarded a Best Actress Oscar in 2002, it seemed like the gorgeous actress had cemented her role as a performer and sex symbol. In the years preceding she starred in the first X-Men movie and helped sell millions of tickets to Swordfish simply because she appeared topless in it. When Berry followed Monster's Ball with the box office hits Die Another Day, X2: X-Men United, and Gothika her position on the A-list seemed secured, and there was even talk of her starring in the first James Bond spinoff movie starring her Die Another Day character. However, Berry obliterated her reputation by starring in the critical and commercial failure Catwoman in 2004, and then after the third X-Men movie in 2006, Berry did not have a major box office hit until 2013's low-budget The Call and most of her movies, like Things We Lost in the Fire, Cloud Atlas, Dark Tide, and Movie 43, were major bombs. She is set to co-star in another X-Men movie later this year, which seems to be the one thing that has worked for her career this century.
Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
