Halle Berry says she struggled to land leading roles at the beginning of her career because of her good looks and reveals she had to beg director Spike Lee for a role in his 1991 film Jungle Fever.
The Oscar-winning actress admits she found it difficult to get serious roles in the early nineties because studio bosses thought she was just a pretty face.
"I came from the world of beauty pageants and modelling and right away when people heard that, I got discounted as an actor," the 50-year-old tells W magazine.
"So, I had the job of trying to eliminate that part of my persona. And I took on roles early on that really didn't rely on my physical self at all, and that was a good way to sort of get some credibility within my industry."
Berry (above) says her beauty pageant background hindered her Hollywood career
Berry, who played a drug addict named Vivian in Lee's hit movie, says she was initially cast as Wesley Snipes' elegant wife, and had to fight to get the role she wanted.
"I read that part fine enough, but then I said to Spike, 'You know, I really am eyeing this crack ho role, can you please let me audition for that?'" she recalls. "And he said, 'No, no I don't see you as the crack ho'. I said, 'I am the crack ho. Really, deep down I'm the crack ho!'"
"And I said, 'Let me go in the bathroom, wash all this makeup off; you will see the crack ho,'" Berry said. "So, he let me do that and I came back out and I got to read the crack ho, and I got the part of the crack ho.
"And it was an amazing way to start my career, playing a crack ho and be directed by Spike Lee. It was major for me."
Berry's fight for more complex roles didn't end there. Almost ten years after fJungle Fever, she also had to convince producer Lee Daniels to let her audition for the lead role in 2001's Monster's Ball - which earned her an Oscar in 2002.
The actress says Daniels was "disgusted" by the thought of her playing the desperate wife of an executed prisoner.
"He thought, 'There's no way'," she recalls, "and my argument to him was, 'Just because someone looks a certain way doesn't mean that they are spared adversity. Adversity does not discriminate'.
"I thought, 'My looks haven't spared me one hardship or one hurt moment or one painful situation. So please, you know, give me a shot at this'. I said, 'I often think it's more interesting when you see someone that looks a certain way struggle in ways that you wouldn't think they would be struggling with'."
"He ultimately gave me a chance and that sort of changed the course of my career in so many ways," she added.
Berry accepts her award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Motion Picture for her role in Monster's Ball in 2002
Berry has since landed high-profile roles in the X-Men film series, and Die Another Day, in which she played Bond Girl Jinx.
