Halle Berry calls it her “passion project.”
The 48-year-old actress told The Guardian she would love to tell the story of activist Angela Davis one day.
Berry said now probably isn’t the best timing to develop a film, nor would she try to get something off the ground without Davis’ “blessing.”
“[Davis’ story] has always been a passion of mine,” Berry said. “She’s just fascinating: the era she lived in, the Black Panthers and all that they stood for, and her connection to it, or not to it. I have a lot of respect for how she lived her life.
Davis, 71, became both iconic and infamous for her association with the Black Panther Party, as well as countless other civil rights initiatives. She remains a noted scholar, feminist and lecturer around the world.
Berry first expressed interest to portray Davis back in 2011 in an interview with Jet Magazine:
I’ll probably never get to play it in my life and I am going to be sad until the day I die, but I really want to play Angela Davis badly. So badly. I just think she’s fascinating and I think I would love to tell a story from her perspective about that time in our history and what it was all about with the Black Panthers.
The Oscar winner’s latest interview with The Guardian also touched on Hollywood’s lack of diversity. Berry said more women of color deserve recognition and acclaim.
I would like to see more of them recognised, absolutely, but we all need to find the win in the work, and doing our craft. The real win is when we’re not just selling stories of color, that people of color can be in everyday stories. Where we’re not saying: ‘These are the movies for black people.’
Berry is starring and producing Extant, a sci-fi drama with Steven Spielberg at the helm.