 | Tuesday, November 19, 2002, 7:42 PM EST.
Halle Berry: 'Bond' Girl of the Century
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Halle Berry as Jinx, the much touted new-fangled Bond girl of the new century, can do anything that 007 can do, except in a tight leather and cleavage baring dresses. She slips in and out of top secret locales and assumes different identities with ease. She spars with an evil villainess on a plane hurdling to the ground. Yes. She can even score like Bond as exhibited by the sensual love scene between Jinx and Bond on a hot day in Cuba. After consummating their nearly egalitarian relationship, Jinx straddles on top of Bond and flicks a knife out to carve a fig in half to feed her lover.
This fig scene proved to be nearly lethal for the 34-year-old actress who reportedly choked on the fruit and had the Heimlich maneuver performed on her by Pierce Brosnan. Okay, so maybe there are more than one reason why playing a character named Jinx could be hazardous to your health.
Before Berry emerged from the Bond franchise like dollar signs out of water, accepting a role as a Bond film was like receiving the kiss of death. (What is Teri Hatcher doing these days besides Radio Shack commercials?) With character names like Pussy Galore this curse of the Bond girl's career should not be too much of a surprise. However, halfway between the Die Another Day shoot, Berry appeared onstage at the Academy Awards with her beautiful mouth ajar sobbing relentlessly over her unprecedented win. Amongst the din of screaming fans, MGM executives were nearly wetting themselves with the thought that an Oscar winner was in their Bond movie.
Berry has certainly fended off the Bond girl curse. There's talk of having a spin-off of the Bond film with Jinx as the lead. Maybe her secret agent code could be 34 double 'D.'
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 What attracted you to the role of Jinx? |
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I loved her initially when I read her. When they offered me the part, I thought, 'Well, what will I do? What kind of Bond girl would I be?' And when I read the script, she was so rich. You know, she was beautiful and sexy and confident. She was also intelligent, very much his equal. She's a trained assassin just like he is. And they were both, you know, trying to capture the same guy, so they were equal on many levels. And I loved that. I thought, 'Wow! How great would this be for women to evolve like this within this franchise?'
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| What did you think of the movie now that you've gotten to see it in its entirety? |
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I loved it! But I had to see it twice. The first time I am so critical that I can't even really see what is going on. I'm thinking 'Oh god! Why did I do it like that?' or 'Oooh! Why did they pick that take?' But the second time I can kind of see it in its entirety and I loved it. I'm really, really proud of it. Proud to be a part of it and even though I knew what was going to happen, I kind of suspended what I knew and went on a journey.
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| Are you happy with how it turned out? |
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I'm really happy with how it turned out. I only knew the parts that I shot. When I saw the movie, I thought, `Oh my god! That was what Toby Stephens and Pierce were doing? That's what Moneypenny did?' Until you actually see it, you kind of forget that there were other facets of the movie that had nothing to do with me. I was so focused on my |
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| How was the fight scene with Rosamund Pike? |
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We both loved that, Rosamund Pike and I. Yeah we were afraid of it of course too because we were really on a rig of a plane that moved backwards, forwards, sideways. There was fire going, smoke going, wind blowing. And here we had knives. When we really shot it, they weren't fake. I mean, they weren't as sharp as swords and knives really are, but they were metal and they were hard. And we could've hurt each other and any given moment. And so as exhilarating as it was, we also had a level of fear, because we didn't want to hurt each other. God forbid.
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| What was working within a franchise different from say any other film? |
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They are all the same crew, art department, set decorators, they're all the same really, so when you're the new kid, it's a little bit daunting. You know, Pierce has been there three times before. This is his fourth time, so they go to great lengths to make the new kid a part of the franchise and very welcomed. I doubt I will ever have that experience again on another movie.
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