Closer USA – August 26, 2019

MY LIFE IN

10

Pictures

HALLE BERRY

RAISEDWITHher sisterby a singlemomin thesuburbsof Cleveland,

MariaHalleBerry“alwayshada feelingof notbeingenoughand

thatcamefrommy fatherleaving.I reallysufferedfromlowself-

esteemformanyyears.”She workedhardin highschoolto be

“Ms.Everything”andeventuallyenteredbeautypageantswhere

“everybodytriedto makebelievethat[beauty]wasthebestthing

aboutme.ThenI realizedno,that’snotthebestthingaboutme,that

couldall be takenawaytomorrowandI’dstillhaveall thegiftsthatI

haveon theinside.”Overtheyears,hertalentwonheran Emmyand

Oscar.NowHalle,whoturns 53 on Aug.14,feelsshecando anything,

includingbeinga singlemomto herowntwochildren.“I’mnot

perfect,I’mnotwithoutf lawsandI’llneverbe,butI’mconfidentin

who I amandthatcomeswithage.”

2

1991 FEVER

PITCH “It

was inten-

tional to not play the

gorgeous girl,” said

Halle of her film

debut as “the crack

ho” in Spike Lee’s

Jungle Fever.

“I came from the

world of beauty

pageants and

modeling.... When

people heard that,

I got discounted as

an actor. So, I had

the job of trying to

eliminate that part

of my persona, and

Spike gave me a

chance to do that.”

1

1989 LIVING NIGHTMARE The Who’s the

Boss? spinoff Living Dolls may have been

a big break, but it wasn’t a lucky one. “I fell

ill dramatically when I was [on the show]. One day,

I simply passed out, and I didn’t wake up for seven

days.” Halle ended up being diagnosed with diabetes.

“I was scared to death; I thought I was going to die.”

“Nothingwill

shakemeto the

pointwhere

I crumble...

and I usedto

crumble,I used

tobe afraid.”

—Halle

58 August 26, 2019 CLOSER