With her roles in the “X-Men” franchise, “Die Another Day,” “John Wick: Chapter 3” and “Bruised,” Halle Berry is a bonafide action star. This line of work looks cool on-screen, but comes with a dangerous side effect. The Oscar winner recently revealed the incredible toll these films have taken on her body.
While promoting her next big action movie, “The Union,” she told Netflix that her action films have led to 10 broken bones and her being “knocked out three times.”
“Arm broken, broke ribs twice — two ribs one time, three ribs another time — broke tailbone, broke two toes and [my middle] finger,” Berry said.
As the “Monster’s Ball” star described her various injuries, her co-star, Mark Wahlberg, was shocked by all the bones she’d broken.
In addition to all the injuries, she’s also picked up some new skills along the way explaining that she’s studied multiple martial arts and combat styles for her various projects.
“I’ve learned jiu-jitsu, some Muay Thai, kickboxing, taekwondo, and I learned how to shoot,” she said. “I learned capoeira for ‘Catwoman.’”
Berry has been in the business since the late ‘80s and won multiple awards, but it somehow feels like she still hasn’t truly gotten her due for how talented she is. As a Black actress she knows she’s not afforded the same opportunities as other artists, so when she suffered a major injury while filming the fight drama “Bruised,” she just powered through, which had to be extremely painful.
“[With ‘John Wick 3’] I told the director about it, they told the insurance. We had to shut down for months and it was a big ordeal,” Berry told Entertainment Weekly in 2021. “On [‘Bruised’], because it was an independent movie, we didn’t have a big budget. The director in me said, ‘I didn’t come this far and work this hard to go home.’”
Premiering Aug. 16 on Netflix, “The Union,” stars Berry as Roxanne, a spy who recruits her high school boyfriend Mike (Wahlberg)—who is just a regular guy—to help with a new mission.