Halle Berry Shares Topless Photoshoot With Rescue Cats to Honor 20th Anniversary of 'Catwoman'

Berry starred in the 2004 film, which was considered a financial and critical bomb.

July 24, 2024
Halle Berry speaking into a microphone while seated, wearing a white blouse and black pants
Denise Truscello / Getty Images for Pendulum

20 years after its premiere, Halle Berry just shared the most purrfect tribute in honor of Catwoman.

The Oscar-winning actress took to her Instagram account on Tuesday to commemorate the film with a series of photos where she poses topless with her rescue cats.

“And STILL... meow!” wrote Berry, 57. “It’s been 20 years today since I had the honor of bringing this iconic character to life. She will always be close to my heart and I will forever be Patience Phillips aka CATWOMAN!”

She continued, “Thank you @missjee79! When these black beauties showed up in my yard searching for their mother, Jee helped us through the rescue process. Forever grateful!”

The 2004 film was considered a massive financial flop, earning $82.1 million at the box office on a $100 million budget. The critics and fans weren’t much kinder, either.

However, Berry said in 2018 she has no regrets about taking on the role in the ill-fated DC film.

"While it ’failed’ to most people, it wasn’t a failure for me," she said at the 2018 Matrix Awards, per E! News. "Because guess what? I met so many interesting people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise, I got to learn two forms of martial arts and I got to learn what not to do, and learning what not to do is as important as learning what to do.”

“I got a shitload of money that changed my life,” Berry added.

In fact, Catwoman was one of the few opportunities Berry was offered at the time after making history in 2002 when she became the first Black woman to win Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role in Monster’s Ball.

“I thought they were going to just back up the truck and drop them off at my house, right? When you have a historic win like that, you think, 'Oh, this is going to fundamentally change,'" Berry told Entertainment Weekly in 2021, explaining that she was unable to land roles that white actresses were regularly offered. "It did fundamentally change me, but it didn't change my place in the business overnight. I still had to go back to work. I still had to try to fight to make a way out of no way."

"For me, [Catwoman] was one of the biggest paydays of my whole life, which, there's nothing wrong with that," she added. "I don't want to feel like 'Oh, I can only do award-worthy stuff.' What is an award-worthy performance?"

The film earned her a Razzie Award for Worst Actress in 2005, which she famously accepted in person.

Berry recently experienced a setback when Netflix canceled the release of the her sci-fi film The Mothership over unspecified production issues, according to the streamer’s chief content officer Bela Bajaria.

However, she’s still moving full steam ahead. Per IMDb, Berry has The Union and Never Let Go in post-production. She's also set to star in the psychological thriller The Process and Maude v Maude, opposite Angelina Jolie, 49.