‘Knocked out Three Times’: Halle Berry Reveals Serious Injuries She Has Suffered During Her Career

Halle Berry takes her film and television projects seriously. She’s so committed to her craft that she’s been physically injured while filming to achieve the best outcome in scenes and make things more relatable on screen. The Oscar winner recently revealed that she’s broken several bones. “Arm broken, broke ribs twice — two ribs one time, three ribs another time — broke tailbone, broke two toes and [my middle] finger,” she said during a Netflix interview promoting her upcoming film, The Union. Her costar, Mark Wahlberg, was shocked by the news.

But Wahlberg has also had his own set of injuries. “Torn meniscus, separated shoulder, ego bruised quite a few times — banged up,” the Deep Water Horizon actor joked.

She recounted filming the 2012 film Dark Tide which required another level of strength she tested to her limits. “I played a free diver. I had to hold my breath for almost two and a half minutes. And that felt like eternity. It felt like death was imminent,” she said.

As a method actor, she wants to come across as genuine to the character and story while on screen. “I’ve learned jiu-jitsu, some Muay Thai, kickboxing, taekwondo, and I learned how to shoot,” Berry said, adding that she also studied capoeira while working on Catwoman. 

A lot of Berry’s injuries were obtained while she was playing a prizefighter in the 2021 film, Bruised. She spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the broken ribs she sustained on that film, saying that due to the schedule, she chose to work through the pain and not pause production.

“[With John Wick 3] I told the director about it, they told the insurance. We had to shut down for months and it was a big ordeal. On [Bruised], because it was an independent movie, we didn’t have a big budget. The director in me said, ‘I didn’t come this far and work this hard to go home,’” she explained.