The Berry Life

As parenting types go, Halle Berry takes a strong, dominant, independent approach, certainly if her film roles are any sort of reference. Only very rarely will you see the 53 year old cowering away in a romcom or emotive thriller – instead, her movie modus operandi is rather more centred towards high-octane action in the form of X-Men, Bond, Catwoman and Kingsman.

Yet, to assume the three-times married Ohio-born actress, philanthropist and campaigner doesn’t possess a calm, affective side is to do her a disservice. Sure, the tempestuous, feisty personality is always there, bubbling under the surface, but no sooner does she begin to speak of the love, commitment and total absorption she has in the lives of her children – Nahla, 11, and Maceo, six – that you gain the truest, lightest, gentlest reflection of this big-screen heavyweight.

“I think you can be many things as an actress, or in fact in any other job, no matter what it is – you can bluff you way through that and no one need ever know,” she begins. “But when it comes to parenthood, to being a mother… there is only one person you can ever be, and that’s yourself.”

In fact, maybe the truest side of Halle Berry was the one we witnessed with tears rolling down her cheeks as she accepted the 2002 Academy Award for Monster’s Ball for Best Actress – ironically, one of the few movies that saw her embrace emotional twists and turns, playing a struggling widow and single mother with heart-breaking candour.

It’s notable that after a real surge of mainstream success leading up to X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006, she began to slow down her work. “I chose to reassess my life,” she says. “I had done so much in such a short space of time, and soon enough there was this beautiful girl, Nahla, in front of me, and the realisation was that I needed to stop.”

Her daughter, from her relationship with French Canadian model Gabriel Aubry, is very much in the imprint of Halle herself. She is confident, considered and has inherited her father’s height. Meanwhile, Maceo, the actress’s son from exhusband Olivier Martinez, the French actor, is an effortlessly adventurous youngster.

“Maceo loves his clothes, martial arts – he’s sporty, he’s into everything… he’s a boy!” she says. “For Nahla, I love spending time with her, mother and daughter. She’s at an age where we can shop together, chat about girl things – it’s such a pleasure.

“It has worked out well. I’ve truly invested in my children and would have so regretted it if I hadn’t. It was only right for my priorities to change because those years have been sweet.”

Fortunately, Hollywood has welcomed the actress back with open arms as she enjoys a career renaissance culminating in this year’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

“It’s interesting that so many of my characters are strong, complicated, determined women,” she says. “I like to think of myself in those terms. I’ve been a fighter all my life and I want my kids to find their own way, too. As I say to them, it’s so important to find something you are passionate about.”

Even Halle’s commercial ventures – she launched a budget lingerie line,Scandale, and previously worked with low-cost German shoe brand Deichmann – suggests she has never moved too far from the reality of the average working mother. Her own upbringing came in the midst of violent passages between her parents, and she has spoken at length about the incredible role model provided by her mother, Judith. “My work ethic, tenacity and courage is all thanks to her,” she says.

Halle, who has also followed a strict philosophy on fitness and health, has a sugar-free diet, but rather than just a vanity pursuit, it is an essential way of life after she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes aged 19. “It was almost a blessing for me, because it took me down a path where I had health and diet as a central part of who I was. And if I failed to live up to that, I could be in big trouble.”

As for the future, it’s kids only… for now. Last year, she took to Instagram wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan, ‘No More Boyfriends’, yet, more recently, was in a

relationship with British music producer Alex Da Kid. “I no longer believe in that magical marriage – I’ve proved it doesn’t necessarily work out the way you want it to; but that alone doesn’t mean you cannot move forward and have a wonderful life with those who matter the most – your children. There is no relationship above that. In fact, the positive experiences have just made me focus more on my children, and I am so grateful for that. They are the ones who make me a better individual and give so much meaning to my life. They offer so much joy.”

By her own admission, that joy came relatively late – Halle had her first child at 41, but believes she made the correct decision to wait. “I was right to hold off. Your job as a mother is to pay close attention to who you are and what you can offer, and I just don’t think I would have been as good a mother in my twenties or even in my thirties. It took me time to figure out so many things in my life – who I was, how to become happy – before I could reach the point where I could be the kind of mother I wanted to be.”

While the actress has flirted with the idea of living in Paris – in part influenced by her relationships with Aubry and Martinez – the family of three remain in LA. Beverly Hills certainly fails to provide the cultural and amorous je ne sais quoi of the French capital culture, but it is perfectly convenient for film projects. Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of Maceo’s birth, Halle had to take her son on the set of TV series Extant, something which fuelled her advocacy for breastfeeding.

“I didn’t really have a choice because I’d been nursing Maceo from day one, and I believe very strongly in it. Breastfeeding is such a gift from nature and no woman should be made to feel uncomfortable about looking after her child.

“I was proud to breastfeed on set – it was a good statement. Overall, I am very conscious of living in a way that will inspire my children,” she says. “I want to love them, teach them and help them grow up with a sense of curiosity and generosity that will carry them through life.”