Halle Berry Says Beauty Is a "Hollow Win" and Is Embracing Aging Instead
"So when that starts to go, maybe for the first time in my life, people will focus on the other aspects of me that I think are way more interesting."
Halle Berry is known for many things, from her Oscar-winning acting career to her inimitable skincare and beauty routine. And when it comes to the latter, Berry is no longer afraid of aging, and instead embraces the changes that come with nearing 60.
Discussing her approach to beauty in a world obsessed with appearances, Berry told Marie Claire, "It might feel good to have everybody look at you, but it’s always been a hollow win for me because I had nothing to do with how I came here looking."
Instead, the 58-year-old actress places much greater value in other areas of her life, which she has more control over. "I do have everything to do with the kind of mother that I am, the kind of partner that I’ve been, the movies that I’ve been a part of, the acting accolades I’ve garnered over the years, my charity work," she explained. "I do take ownership over those things that I’ve worked really hard at, and if somebody finds value in those things that lights me up."
Van Hunt and Halle Berry at the Red Sea International Film Festival 2023 on December 07, 2023.
Berry's approach to aging is incredibly refreshing, especially as the entertainment industry and social media continue to promote unrealistic beauty standards.
"I’ve always known that I’ve been more than this face and more than this body," Berry explained in the profile. "So when that starts to go, maybe for the first time in my life, people will focus on the other aspects of me that I think are way more interesting."
The Bruised star is also unafraid to call out the double standards women face in both the entertainment industry and the world at large. "Age is just a number that they stick on us at birth," she noted. "As women, we get defined by it way more than men do and sometimes it can debilitate us. It can trick us into thinking what we’re supposed to do."
Berry's tonic for fighting against ageism is simple: "We have to kick that in the face and say, no, I’m going to do what I can do as long as I feel good doing it! And that will be whatever I want it to be. I get to define that."
