Halle Berry has a very humble answer to why she went in person to accept a Razzie for 2004's Catwoman. The American actor has had plenty of success in her career, including in the superhero genre, playing the popular mutant Storm in the X-Men movie franchise. She took home the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in 2002's Monster's Ball, becoming the first (and currently the only) African-American woman to win in that category.

Just two years later, however, Berry would experience a decided low-point with Catwoman. Directed by Pitof, the film centered on the Batman villain is considered by many critics to be among the worst ever made, and though some found her lead performance a redeeming factor, the project at large was criticized for over-sexualizing her character. At the 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards, which "honors" the worst movies of the year on the night before the Oscars, Catwoman was nominated in seven categories and "won" four, including a Razzie for Worst Actress for Berry.

In a rare move, Berry actually appeared in person to accept her award, an in an interview with Vanity Fair, she says the decision was pretty easy for her. She explains that the culture surrounding the Academy Awards can lead to winners feeling superior, when in reality they're no better than their fellow nominees. So, by extension, receiving a Razzie didn't make her feel worse than her peers, and she appreciated the opportunity to poke fun at herself. If one can't be a gracious loser, Berry says, one doesn't deserve to be a winner:

Well, I went to the Razzies because, you know, I feel like... we all take ourselves so seriously, if we get an award, if we get the Oscar, we somehow are made to feel like we're somehow better than everybody else, but we're really not. You know, you were just chosen that year by your peers and you were acknowledged for doing what they considered stellar work, but are you better than the next person who didn't get that award? No, not at all. So if you find yourself face to face with a Razzie, does that mean you're the worst actor there ever was? Probably not, you just got the piss taken out on you that year by a group of people that can. I decided to just take it all in jest, not take myself too seriously, and if I can show up to collect an Oscar when you're honoring me, I can certainly show up to collect a Razzie when you say, 'Good try, but do better.' I always learned that if you can't be a good loser, then you don't deserve to be a good winner, so I went there, made fun of myself, I had a great time... and then I set that thing on fire!

Berry is not the only person to have accepted her Razzie in person. Dutch director Paul Verhoeven was the first to do so after being named Worst Director for Showgirls, which also took home Worst Picture, and Tom Green gave a disruptive speech after "winning" in five categories for Freddy Got Fingered. Perhaps most famously, and surely inspired by Berry's attendance, Sandra Bullock accepted the Razzie for Worst Actress for All About Steve on the night before winning Best Actress at the Oscars for The Blind Side.

Berry is clearly a great sport, and while she herself isn't a fan of how her superhero vehicle turned out, she has expressed interest in directing the next Catwoman movie. The long-term plans for the character in the DC Extended Universe, however, are currently unclear. The character will next appear in 2022's The Batman, played by Zoë Kravitz, but the film isn't expected to rework the current DCEU continuity. Pairing Berry's Catwoman with Affleck's Batman would be an interesting opportunity to make more of her role this time around.

Source: Vanity Fair