Halle Berry recently stopped in London to promote her new Blockbuster; X-Men 3. Seven magazine got the chance to take a closer look at the Hollywood beauty behind Storm, and her thriving career to date …

As a teenage girl growing up in Ohio, Halle always dreamed of bigger things. She became a teenage beauty queen and successful model, but Berry wanted more and turned to acting, quickly proving that she possessed an unusual talent. That’s not to say that her formative years were easy, as the actress herself says when asked about her own role models and heroines.

“My personal heroines are definitely my mothers first. She was a white woman bringing up two black kids in the 60’s with a lot of strength and grace.”

Berry also grew up with Type 2 diabetes, a cause which she campaigns heavily for, not that it gets in the way of the 39 year old’s career! Acting however hasn’t always been what she had in mind.

“I wanted to be a princess, and wear a crown and be a member of the royal family. Then when I got past five years old, I wanted to be a doctor, because my mother was a nurse and I was interested in medicine. She worked on a psychiatric ward, so then I got interested in that and wanted to be a psychologist. Later as I got into my teenage years, I realised that I had a knack for writing and I thought I would like to be a journalist. I loved telling stories. So none of those things I dreamed of came to fruition.”

Her early career as a model has fortunately not left Berry with a desire to remain stick thin, and she sees parallels in modern society to the challenges faced by the characters in the film to conform.

“The beauty (of the film) is that everyone can relate, be they a different gender, race or religion. Are we too fat, too thin, we all struggle with those images, so everybody relates.”

Berry gained early recognition for a number of small roles that she did on both the small screen and in film. She was initially type cast (understandably) for her beauty, but quickly managed to shed that image, as and when it was required for the role.

“I am really comfortable with myself and the way I look. I started my career playing a crack addict in JUNGLE FEVER and got the beauty thing off the table and I love that. I love roles that allow me to do that and I know that as I get older, I will continue to choose roles that are age appropriate and I have no problem with not being an ingénue. I have no problem ageing and acting in front of the world. That is a challenge that I am looking forward to in fact. I want to continue to work and expose that part of myself, I am not afraid of my looks changing on and off screen at all.”

Although, needless to say, nothing can compete with the wig she wore for the first two x-men movies, Berry is much happier with Storm’s appearance and character in this latest outing. When asked how she would improve her character from this sequel, the pleasure was hard to disguise…

“To be honest, I already got to change my character to where I think she should be. She’s a leader, she’s stronger… and she has a much better haircut!

Working steadily in the industry during the 90’s with high profile roles, Berry had still not quite achieved the critical success that her earlier performances hinted at. Although in 2001, all that changed when she won an Oscar for her turn in Monster’s Ball. However, she is still unsure how exactly that has changed things for her.

Berry said:

“ More people around the world knew who I was but it did not mean that the struggle stopped, to get good work. This is a very competitive industry and it always has been and will be, I don’t care how many awards and accolades you have. You have to work very hard and have thick skin and be able to take risks, take chances. None of that has changed.”

She may have gained acceptance from her peers for her film roles, but as a black woman in America there is still a certain amount of discrimination that even she faces on a daily basis.

“Everyday I wake up with this brown skin – I don’t care how much money I have, I don’t care how many movies I do, I don’t care how many awards I have on my shelf, everyday I am still aware that I am a woman of color in this country, and there is still certain discrimination that goes along with that and that does not change. No amount of money or awards changes that. What changes discrimination is the consciousness of people, I do see that gradually changing, but are we there? I do not think that we live in a colorblind society, where racism is null and void. That is pretty absurd, but I believe that it is possible that things are moving in that direction and I believe that one day, color and race won’t matter, I hope I am here to see it but it hasn’t happened yet.”

As for the future, the American beauty is currently working on a couple of films at the moment, including the Bruce Willis drama, Perfect Stranger. Although X-men 3 was seen as being the final part of the comic book saga, Berry still sees potential for another film, although she’s less convinced about a Storm spin-off movie…

“There is no chance of a Storm spin-off, not with me in it anyway. This is where me and Hugh (Co-star who plays Wolverine) disagree, because I feel there could be another X-men film, if the fans want it and go and watch this one obviously. There are so many stories and characters in the comics that could be developed, maybe I’m just not ready to say goodbye to Storm. Perhaps she has a flyby in Wolverine’s story…”

Obviously proud and happy with her career Berry is especially pleased with the relationship she has maintained with her mother over the years.

“I don’t think she ever thought I would end up doing this with my life and she tells me often that what I do is great. But I think she is more happy that I haven‘t changed a lot over the years, that I am still me and that we have time together and I care about her. We are the same as we always were, and I think that is what makes her most happy and proud, more than the movies, if you want to know the truth.

X-men 3: The Last Stand is released nationwide on May 25th