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Despite the film’s catastrophic failure at the box office, the actress scored the payday of a lifetime. The superhero flick, Catwoman, which turned out to be a massive flop, brought Berry an impressive $14 million paycheck, a sum she still reflects on fondly.
Catwoman was a comic book movie that promised big things but delivered little. Halle Berry starred as Patience Phillips, a graphic designer who is resurrected by a mystical cat and gains superhuman abilities. It had all the elements of a hit, action, a strong female lead, and a familiar comic book universe. But, despite all that, it bombed. Grossing only $82.1 million worldwide against a hefty $100 million budget, Catwoman was panned by critics and audiences alike, eventually making its way onto lists of the “Worst Pictures” of the year.
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Before even stepping into the role, Berry’s friends warned her it could be a career-ender. “Everybody around me said, ‘Girl, don’t do it. It’s going to be the death of you,'” Berry recalled in an interview with Glamour. Despite their concerns, she trusted her instincts and went ahead with the project. And while the film didn’t make the splash it was supposed to, it did give Berry a paycheck that was anything but small.
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Berry described her Catwoman paycheck as “a s–t-load of money that changed my life” when she accepted the Matrix Award in 2018. “For me, it was one of the biggest paydays of my whole life,” she added in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. There’s no denying it — it was a major career moment, even if the film itself was anything but.
Looking back, Berry has no regrets. Catwoman may have failed to make an impact with audiences, but it wasn’t a total loss for the actress. The movie allowed her to form lasting relationships with co-stars and opened doors she never expected. “While it failed to most people, it wasn’t a failure for me because I met so many interesting people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise,” she said. It also gave her the opportunity to learn martial arts, skills she carried with her long after the cameras stopped rolling.
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But perhaps the most valuable lesson Catwoman taught Berry wasn’t about the box office, it was about trusting her intuition. “Following your intuition doesn’t always mean you’re going to be successful or win the prize, but it means you’re always going to learn the exact lesson or get the exact accolades or the exact check that you’re supposed to get for yourself,” she shared. “Never compare that to anyone else.”
Despite Catwoman’s disastrous reception, Halle Berry came out ahead, proving that sometimes, even a flop can lead to an unforgettable payoff. And while the film may never be remembered for its accolades, the paycheck and life lessons Berry walked away with are priceless.
For more such stories, check out Hollywood News.
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