256 Quotes by Halle Berry

There have been so many people who have said to me, ‘You can’t do that,’ but I’ve had an innate belief that they were wrong. Be unwavering and relentless in your approach.

I won’t have a traditional marriage; I don’t find the value in that anymore. But I am such a hopeless romantic and I really want love and I want a committed relationship, so I am going to reinvent marriage for myself.

Growing older is not such a big deal for me, despite the fears that older actresses have in Hollywood. When I hit 40, for example, I didn’t feel 40 – or whatever that is supposed to feel like.

When an opportunity comes your way, it’s about making sure you’re prepared to be the one who can walk through the door and deliver the goods. And I’ve had a lot of luck on my side and I’ve been prepared for that luck.

I’ve also grown as an actor as I’ve got older in life. I’ve learnt how to go to work, immerse myself 100 per cent in the character and, at the end of the day, take it all off and go back, get a nice bubble bath, have a nice massage and realise that is not my life. And that feels good.

I would say a magical thing happened on when the big 40th birthday came. I felt like a light kind of just went off, and maybe that’s because I felt like at 40 I had the right to say and be who I wanted to be, say what I wanted to say, and accept what I didn’t want to accept.

When a young woman tells me that she wants to become and actor, I say, ‘No, be a writer. Or go to business school and learn how to run a studio.’ The only real change will come from behind the scenes.

This moment is so much bigger than me. It’s for every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.

Let me tell you something – being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life. No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory.