“Catwoman” was released 20 years ago. However, the $100 million-budgeted movie, which cast Halle Berry as Catwoman, largely received negative reviews following its release. The movie raked in $82 million from the box office and got an 8% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
There was also backlash from critics after the movie was released – though Berry, 57, was said to be the one solely targeted. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly to mark the movie’s 20th anniversary, the Oscar winner said she hated that she was the only person who was targeted in the backlash that ensued.
Though she expressed her pride in portraying the character and said the movie “looks good”, Berry said the pain from the backlash has remained in her for years.
RELATED STORIES
“I felt like it was Halle Berry’s failure, but I didn’t make it alone,” the Monster’s Ball actor said. “All these years, I’ve absolutely carried it.”
Berry, who received a Razzie for her performance in the movie, also spoke about how she landed the role. The Razzies is a parody award show that honors movies that have flopped.
“‘Catwoman’ came on my radar while I made [Die Another Day in 2002], which is when I was first asked,” she recalled. “I was wildly excited. The pitch wasn’t really a story; it was just the idea of reinventing Catwoman. The studio was a big part of that; the idea was to not do what’s been done over and over but to bring something different.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Berry also touched on what she felt about the movie’s plot. “I always thought the idea of Catwoman saving women from a face cream felt a bit soft,” she revealed.
“All the other superheroes save the world; they don’t just save women from cracked faces. I always knew that was a soft superhero plight, but at that time in my career, I didn’t have the agency I have today or belief that I could challenge that, so I went along with it.”
She also said that “things went smoothly” for her during the shoot. “It was a great shoot, and I had the time of my life,” she added. “I worked my ass off to embody a cat in so many ways, psychologically and physically. I never thought it went awry; I just thought that maybe it wouldn’t feel as big as other movies because the plot stakes aren’t as high.”
But the backlash started even before the movie hit the theatres, and that stemmed from a leaked photo of Berry’s costume, Entertainment Weekly reported. “That was the first thing that started the negativity,” said producer Denise Di Novi.
“It was an early shot before we’d perfected it. It was so different than what people were used to in the other movie. A catsuit, by definition, everything is covered up. We thought it’d be cool to be more rock & roll and bare. Halle was famous for wearing a bikini in her Bond movie, and we were like, why not? People had such a reaction to it, which is so ridiculous. We had the famous Colleen Atwood helping us with just that costume. Halle had a lot of input. I still think it’s cool and a lot more modern!”
Berry also said: “Fans were upset about the suit. It was something different, but in our minds, why keep remaking Catwoman if you’re not going to take risks and bring something different to it? The beauty was that it was better suited for my version of her, my body, who I was, and my sensibilities.”
Berry admitted she “didn’t love” the backlash. “Being a Black woman, I’m used to carrying negativity on my back, fighting, being a fish swimming upstream by myself,” she added.
“I’m used to defying stereotypes and making a way out of no way. I didn’t want to be casual about it, but I went and collected that Razzie, laughed at myself, and kept it moving. It didn’t derail me because I’ve fought as a Black woman my whole life. A little bad publicity about a movie? I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t going to stop my world or derail me from doing what I love to do.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Berry stated that she “hated that it got all put on me, and I hate that, to this day, it’s my failure.” She, however, said she still kept her head held high.
“I know I can carry it. I still have a career 20 years later. It’s just part of my story. That’s okay, and I’ve carried other failures and successes. People have opinions, and sometimes they’re louder than others. You just have to keep moving.”
