Halle Berry, 56, Is Reminding Us That Age Doesn’t Define Beauty: ‘Beauty Is Deeper Than the Physical’
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Halle Berry, now 56, opened up about finally finding true happiness at 55—she’s in a thriving relationship, is doing fulfilling work, and is a committed mother.
Her 30s and 40s were spent finding herself. Now, she’s found her sweet spot and isn’t afraid to continue aging.
“Society should look at us as jewels as we get older. Because the older women get, the more formidable we are.”
Contrary to popular belief, life’s “prime time” doesn’t always play out in your 20s, and actress Halle Berry is proof. At 55, she said her life was finally “firing on all cylinders.” According to the actress, for the first time ever, she was happy at work, in her family, and with her love life. And her age has only enriched the experience.
The Bruised star opened up to AARP about the last few years, sharing how positively transformative her 50s have been so far. She met her boyfriend, musician Van Hunt, at the start of pandemic lockdowns, which forced them to connect from a distance.
“We talked for hours and hours and hours and hours [on the phone] and never got tired. I fell in love with his mind, his conversation. I realized: I really like him. I really liked who he was, and I can’t say I felt that way before,” she said. “I really believe I’ve found my person. I fell in love with him before I even met him.”
On New Year's Eve, the pair fooled the world into thinking they got married with a cheeky Instagram post, but at this moment, there's no wedding (that we know of) on the calendar.
Up until now, Berry moved at hyper-speed in pursuit of her next goal. “In my 30s, I was so focused on career, but I had a desire to have children and be a mother. So I felt I was lacking something,” she explained. “In my 40s, I took the decade to be at home and have children and be a mom. But my career was lacking—I longed to be back at work.” (Berry has two children—Nahla, 13, with her ex-boyfriend model Gabriel Aubry, and Maceo, 8, with her ex-husband actor Olivier Martinez.)
Then, in 2017, during a group meditation in India, everything changed. “The shaman told me I would see things more clearly going forward and would need to react and act. And he was right,” Berry recalled. Suddenly, she began taking more control—she fired her agent who consistently pitched her the same tired roles, and found new representation that gave her Bruised's titular Jackie Justice, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.
“It empowered me,” she said of the part. “Sometimes we know something or see something or feel something, and we talk ourselves out of it. I no longer do that.”
That’s why she refuses to allow societal norms around aging dictate how she lives. “We’re all going to get older. Our skin is going to shrivel up and we’re going to look different. I see things changing with my face and body, but I’ve never put all my eggs in that basket. I’ve always known that beauty is deeper than the physical body you’re walking around in," she told AARP.
Although the star has always been praised for her glowing looks, she doesn’t allow them to define her. After all, there are so many more important things to focus on. “I refuse to become someone who just tries to hold onto a youthful face and not embrace what’s most important about being beautiful—how you live your life, how you give back to others, how you connect to people, how you strengthen your mind, body, and soul and nourish yourself, how you give in a meaningful way of yourself. The most beautiful people have something radiating inside,” she said.
And when it comes to aging as a woman, she won't be erased or silenced. “Women are told that when we reach a certain number, we’re no longer valuable," she said. "I believe the opposite. Society should look at us as jewels as we get older. Because the older women get, the more formidable we are.”
You can say that again.
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