Halle Berry returns to horror genre in Never Let Go
LAS VEGAS – Halle Berry loves a good scare.
And while the American actress is best known for playing the silver-haired superhero Storm in the X-Men films (2000 to 2014) and for being the first non-white performer to win a Best Actress Oscar for romantic drama Monster’s Ball (2001), her favourite stories are mystery thrillers.
So, her role in the psychological horror thriller Never Let Go, which opens in Singapore cinemas on Sept 19, was right up her alley.
She plays the mother of fraternal twin boys who, as a family, have lived in fear since an evil spirit took over the world beyond their front doorstep.
They have kept safe by being together at all times – and staying tethered to one another with ropes. But when one son starts questioning if the evil is real, their bond is broken and a terrifying fight for survival ensues.
Speaking at a publicity event for the film in Las Vegas, Nevada, earlier in 2024, the 58-year-old actress says the thrilling story instantly appealed to her.
“I think I’m an adrenaline junkie. I look for the biggest zip lines when I’m on vacation and I want to bungee-jump and go on the biggest roller coaster,” says the star, who played a Bond girl in Die Another Day (2002).
“And I just love being on the edge of my seat and having a mystery to solve. Mysteries are my favourite genre of literature and I love being transported into a world that feels so unrealistic and uncommon to me.”
That almost all the action in Never Let Go revolves around a mother and her two children also struck a chord with Berry. She has a 16-year-old daughter with her former boyfriend, French-Canadian model Gabriel Aubry, 48, and a 10-year-old son with her former husband, French actor Olivier Martinez, 58.
Most of her scenes are with the American child actors who play her sons, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins.
“I got to play a character that I’ve never played before,” Berry says. “I’ve never been seen like this on film, and I had the responsibility and the honour of leading a cast with two young performers who were nine and 10 years old.
“That’s all I had – me, these two boys and this house.
“And the challenge was to work with them and find a way to keep our world interesting and real and engaging while our circumstances were so limited. So, it was a great acting challenge and something I’d never done before,” says Berry, whose last horror outing was 2003’s Gothika.
Also unusual was the blending of family drama and horror in the movie, which was directed by French film-maker Alexandre Aja. He made horror movies such as The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Mirrors (2008) and Horns (2013).
“I love the psychological and the generational trauma aspect of it,” Berry says.
“This is a very odd family in a very odd situation that we haven’t quite seen before. We walk that line between reality and non-reality, and I think that’s the most terrifying aspect of it.”
She says she would not take her younger child to watch this particular film. It was rated R in the US for strong violent content and grisly images. In Singapore, the film is rated NC16.
“My 16-year-old, yes. She’s going to like this. But my son would have nightmares for a year,” Berry says.
“He saw a trailer for a scary movie and it took us a year for him to go to bed by himself. So, he won’t be seeing it.”
- Never Let Go opens in Singapore cinemas on Sept 19.
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