Halle Berry ‘speechless’ after Netflix pays $20m for rights to directorial debut

Oscar winner plays a disgraced MMA fighter in film

Halle Berry has been left “speechless” after Netflix paid $20m (£15m) for the rights to her directorial debut.

The Oscar winning actor has stepped behind the camera for Bruised, a gritty drama in which she plays a boxer.

Ahead of its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Bruised was purchased by Netflix in a deal reported to be worth just under $20m.

“I am speechless,” Berry tweeted in response to the deal. “Thank you @netflix for believing in my vision, cannot wait for y’all to finally see Bruised.”

In the film, Berry plays a washed-up MMA fighter named Jackie Justice, who is determined to win back her title as well as the young son she abandoned years prior.

Berry broke two ribs while preparing for the role, but fought through the pain in order to maintain the movie’s start date for filming.

She also revealed that she had to wait for several months while the film was due to star Blake Lively and be directed by Nick Cassavetes, and was only able to take the reins of the movie when both left the project.

“I’m tortured, because now I can’t let it go,” Berry told Variety of the waiting period. “I’ve been thinking of how I can reimagine it for someone like me, a Black woman in middle age – not starting life – who’s looking for a last chance, not another chance. I’m stuck on it.”

Halle Berry on the red carpet in 2019, and in her new film 'Bruised' (Kevin Winter/Getty Images/Sierra/Affinity)

Berry recently revealed that her Oscar win in 2002, in which she became the first and so far only black actor to win the Best Actress Oscar, was one of her “biggest heartbreaks”.

Bruised is expected to be released on Netflix in 2021.