The career-killing movie Halle Berry narrowly avoided: “I think I really want it”
Most actors with long careers will inevitably be tied to at least one high-profile failure. Nobody delivers hits consistently, and even established stars can end up attached to projects that fall apart in full view of the industry. Halle Berry has one of those on her résumé—Catwoman remains a defining misstep—but she also narrowly avoided another infamous flop that could have derailed her career entirely.
In 2003, Berry was on top of the world. After years rising through the Hollywood ranks, she cemented her status as an A-list star with roles in the X-Men franchise, Swordfish, and a memorable turn as sexy NSA agent ‘Jinx’ in the James Bond blockbuster Die Another Day. Of course, this was also the period in which she made history by becoming the first African-American woman to win the ‘Best Actress’ Academy Award for her performance in 2001’s Monster’s Ball.
It seemed like the only way was up for Berry, and for her follow-up project, she took a meeting with Martin Brest, the ‘Best Director’ nominated helmer of hits like Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, and Scent of a Woman. He was putting together a rom-com crime caper about a low-level mobster who falls in love with Ricki, the beautiful woman assigned to ensure he doesn’t make a mess of the kidnapping of a District Attorney. Unfortunately for this lovestruck gangster, though, the woman in question is a lesbian.
If you think that doesn’t necessarily sound like the makings of a good movie, well, you’d be right. Still, that didn’t stop two of Hollywood’s most prominent female stars from vying for the part of Ricki. Though the role eventually went to Jennifer Lopez, who signed up to star alongside future boyfriend Ben Affleck, Berry was the other interested party, and it was rumoured that she’d been cast in the film before being replaced by Lopez.
Many years later, though, after Gigli had proven to be an unmitigated disaster that almost derailed Affleck’s career entirely and made “Bennifer” the butt of Hollywood’s jokes for a few years, Berry set the record straight on the Armchair Expert podcast. “That’s not true, hell no,” she told host Dax Shepard. “Let me tell you what happened; here’s the tea. I’m up for the part, so is Jennifer. We both go meet Brest, so we both have a meeting around it.”
At this point, Berry was convinced she truly wanted to be a part of Gigli. “I think I really want it,” she noted. “I want to work with Marty Brest, I want to work with Ben.”
Ultimately, though, Berry claimed it was Affleck who pulled rank and said he wanted Lopez to play Ricki for reasons that later became obvious. “She gets it,” Berry chuckled. “She beat me out for the job. Now, I realise why she got the job; I realise what was at play there!”
Naturally, though, when Gigli was released and became one of the biggest box-office debacles in Hollywood history, all while receiving reviews that were tantamount to assaults on the character of everyone involved, Berry counted her lucky stars that Lopez had goo-goo eyes for Affleck and nabbed the role.
“Boy, I’m glad she did,” the Never Let Go star admitted. “I might not be sitting here right now!”
