Halle Berry Says Her 'Place' in Hollywood 'Didn't Change' After Oscar Win: 'It Was Surprising'

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Halle Berry winning the Oscar in 2002

Halle Berry is reflecting on how her historic Oscar win didn't change her career in the way she expected.

The actress, who won the award for Best Actress in 2002 for Monster's Ball, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about her career trajectory while promoting her directorial debut, Bruised.

"It was surprising, because I thought they were going to just back up the truck and drop them off at my house, right?" Berry, 54, said of winning Hollywood's top prize but never getting an influx of offers.

"When you have a historic win like that, you think, 'Oh, this is going to fundamentally change,'" she continued. "It did fundamentally change me, but it didn't change my place in the business overnight. I still had to go back to work. I still had to try to fight to make a way out of no way."

RELATED: Halle Berry Says Seeing Black Actresses in Hollywood Was 'Crucial' Having Been Raised by a White Mom

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Even as a newly-minted Oscar winner in the early 2000s, Berry said she still struggled to land the kind of roles most white actresses with her box office success and an Oscar would have seen. Berry said she took on movie roles that didn't call to her as much as others.

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"It's like, okay, that's a film I can't say I'm totally in love with, but this isn't a hobby. It's how I take care of my children," Berry said. "But I try to keep that sense of wonder and stay curious. Because being a Black woman, I haven't always had parts that I absolutely love."

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Now, Berry is making her directorial debut with Bruised, in which she also stars as Jackie Justice, a disgraced MMA fighter fighting for one last shot in the ring.

"It used to be when you were 40 your career was done, and I mean really done," she told EW. "Or you had to wait until you were old enough to play a grandma, and then you could have another bite at the apple, right? I mean, I couldn't think that I'd be playing an MMA fighter at 54 years old. Yet I did, so it's got to be changing. I'm proof of that."

Bruised begins streaming on Netflix on Nov. 24.