After a string of critical and commercial disappointments following her 2002 best actress Oscar for Monster’s Ball, Halle Berry drew accolades for her dramatic performance in 2007’s Things We Lost in the Fire. In the film, Berry plays a mother of two who is devastated when her husband is murdered. She becomes involved in a shaky but eventually healing relationship with his best friend, Jerry, a lawyer-turned-heroin addict (Benicio Del Toro). In real life, expecting her first child with boyfriend, model Gabriel Aubry, Berry takes a moment to reflect.

What do you like most about your character and what the least?
I loved her resilience, that she was able to deal with her own grief and was then able to help someone else. But before that, she was a judgmental person, very self-righteous. She passed a lot of judgment on (Jerry), but a lot of that came from fear.

Have there been roles that made you wonder if you’ve taken on more than you should have?
I always have that fear: have I chosen something I can’t handle? But then I’m like a moth to a flame. When the risk is really high, that’s a real charge for me.

You’ve played such diverse roles. Is there a common thread there that defines your sensibility or philosophy of life?
The common thread for me is to always choose roles that provide an outlet to express what I’m going through in real life. Since Jungle Fever, I’ll have that personal catharsis, where I’ll have a eureka moment and think, “That’s why this came to my life.” With Things We Lost in the Fire, I desperately wanted to become a mother. I’ve played a mother before but this was a woman who was a good mother and completely devoted to her children and family. And that’s what I wanted to create in my own life.

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