10 Movies That Almost Killed Actors' Careers
5. Catwoman - Halle Berry
What is it about recent Oscar winners that makes them unable to resist the lure of an obvious dud? A simple scan of the script for 2004’s Catwoman should have been enough to put off any actress, let alone one of Halle Berry’s calibre - then only a few years removed from her scorching turn in Monster’s Ball.
The film was a transparent attempt to ride the wave of early ‘00s cool - Berry’s meek character is a graphic designer, and in one excruciating scene she bests a bunch of youths on the basketball court. And yet she signed up, presumably for a hearty paycheque.
The film is a disaster, at times entertainingly bad, but generally just boring. Critics were ruthless with Berry, who won the Golden Raspberry for Best Actress. This could easily have been seriously damaging for her career.
Smartly, she owned the disaster. She attended the Golden Raspberries in person to accept her award, and in due course we moved on to sneer at the next bomb. Catwoman is both a lesson in disastrous career choices, and disaster management.