Halle Berry has made a solid transition from Academy Award-winning actress to director, with her hard-hitting MMA drama Bruised becoming a smash hit on Netflix since arriving on the platform, and it almost beat out $200 million behemoth Red Notice to top the streaming service’s weekly Top 10 most-watched list.
The project was initially written for the lead character to be a woman in their mid-20s, but 55 year-old Berry reworked the screenplay from the ground up when she decided to take the plunge and steer the ship from both sides of the camera. It’s an accomplished first-time feature, and it proved successful enough to see the star sign an exclusive first-look deal with Netflix.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Berry revealed the biggest challenge she faced while helming Bruised at the same time she was giving one of her best performances in years as washed-up fighter Jacky Justice.
“It was harrowing. It was the hardest thing I’ve done in my professional career, because the character was a big, huge character that required a lot of my time and attention and preparation, and then directing for the first time also required a lot of my time, attention and preparation. So I was burning the candle at both ends, which made for super long days, really stressful days. But at the end of the day, I was engrossed in doing something that I loved and something that I felt passionate about. And it was a story that I felt like if I didn’t tell, I was going to die.”
Berry’s next move on the directorial side of things is going to be an interesting one, especially when she’s rewarded Netflix’s faith in spectacular fashion. The streamer tends to offer a massive amount of creative freedom, and even though she’s been teasing a do-over of her disastrous Catwoman, she might stick with drama before tackling anything too ambitious.
