Halle Berry constantly questions her parenting choices.
The 58-year-old actress – who has Nahla, 16, and 11-year-old Maceo from previous relationships – has a daily “battle” with herself when it comes to knowing the right things to do for her two children as a single parent.
“I battle almost daily with decisions I have to make,” she told Britain’s HELLO! Magazine.”I ask myself, ‘Is this the right thing to do? Is this the best for my child? Am I doing better than what was done for me? Am I breaking the generational trauma cycles of my growing? Am I doing exactly what my mother did?’ I think that’s very relatable, especially for other mothers and other women.”
Berry can next be seen in horror movie Never Let Go, in which she plays Momma, a troubled mother who won’t let her twin sons out of their small shack in the wilderness without being tethered to a rope as she fears them falling afoul of an evil spirit that has taken over the world.
Berry studies schizophrenia
To prepare for the “tortured” role, the actress studied schizophrenia.
“She’s tortured,” Berry said. “I think she wonders if this evil that’s surrounding her is real. Is she a bit schizophrenic? Is it really real? Is she doing the right thing by these kids, keeping them sequestered here? Because technically, what she’s doing is torturing them too. I studied schizophrenia because I feel that Momma is not quite mentally sound. Whether she’s suffering from schizophrenia from 10 years in the middle of nowhere, she’s pretty limited in her ability to express herself and to function, so how does that affect a normally-functioning person?”
Despite the extreme subject matter, the Oscar-winning star still thinks her character is relatable.
“You are going to get a story that has heart,” she said. “You’re going to love the heart of this family, the struggle that they’re facing. I think you’ll connect to Momma. Even if you’re not a mother, you’ll connect to a mother loving her children so much and wondering if this is real and can she fix it?”
