Coronji Calhoun Sr., actor who played Halle Berry's son in Monster's Ball , dies at 30
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Former child actor Coronji Calhoun Sr., who played Halle Berry's son, Tyrell, in producer Lee Daniels' 2001 drama Monster's Ball, has died at age 30. According to reports, Calhoun died from congestive heart failure.
EW confirmed that the former actor — whose sole screen credit was the role of Berry's son in the Oscar-winning project — died on Oct. 13, and that Daniels and Berry both donated $3,394 each to his family via their GoFundMe page following his death.
According to a message from Calhoun's mother, Theresa Bailey, her son "did not have any life insurance policy on him," and set up a GoFundMe page to help "give Coronji a sacred celebration of life." She later updated the notice indicating that the financial burden had been eliminated thanks to donations, including those from Daniels and Berry.
Courtesy Everett Collection Halle Berry and Coronji Calhoun Jr. in 'Monster's Ball.'
"As we close this chapter, we ask that in your remembrance of him, you remember to love your neighbor as yourself," Bailey wrote. "Because that is what Coronji did for his entire community."
Calhoun was just 10 years old when he appeared opposite Berry in the film, for which she would go on to become the first Black woman to win the Oscar for Best Actress at the 2002 ceremony. In addition to Berry in the role of his mother, Leticia, recording artist Sean "Diddy" Combs portrayed Calhoun's father, who's on death row. Billy Bob Thornton played the prison guard who assisted in the execution.
PEOPLE reported that Berry previously spoke of the difficulty in performing scenes where Leticia abused her son over his weight: "It was a lot harder than even the love scene because [Coronji] was really 10 [years old] and obese," the publication noted. "I worried that I would somehow damage him emotionally, not just in doing the scene, but down the road. So I talked to him a lot and hugged and kissed him a lot. He said, 'You don't have to worry about what you say; it can't be as bad as how they treat me at school,' but I hear now he's the most popular kid in his school. So I guess [the movie] helped."
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