MMA, Halle Berry and six-pack abs: the Oscar-winner makes her directorial debut with Bruised
She was injured while acting in the film but Halle Berry continued to direct a movie about a relentless MMA fighter
What drove Halle Berry toward the film Bruised as her directorial debut? A portrait of hard, gritty, relentlessly unapologetic mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting, it’s a film she also stars in.
At 53 she is pushing every limit, putting her own body through the ringer for this project, doing her own stunts and getting hurt, too. In fact, filming stopped on November 19 because she was injured too badly to work.
She re-emerged on set a week later with black eyes and a puffy face.
Why is Berry, the Oscar-winning actress, fighting so hard? She is taking a big chance working with non-actors in significant roles. But maybe it’s because even when she won the coveted golden statue, very few black woman followed in her footsteps.
“That moment really meant nothing,” Berry said to Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Elaine Welteroth two years ago. “It meant nothing. I thought it meant something, but I think it meant nothing.”
Was that the moment she decided to take the fight back to Hollywood?
“I was profoundly hurt by that and saddened by that, and it inspired me to try to get involved in other ways,” she said two years ago. “[It’s] why I want[ed] to start directing, to start producing more … to be a part of making more opportunities for people of colour,” she said.
Written by Michelle Rosenfarb, Bruised features Berry as lead character Jackie “Justice”, a washed-up, disgraced MMA fighter. She lost her career and is now attempting to rebuild her life by trying to get her son back and training to fight an up and coming star in the MMA world (played by real world MMA fighter Valentina Shevchenko). It’s a story about family, about character and fighting all the demons women can face.