Halle Berry Talks Never Let Go, Hopes for John Wick Spinoff

[This story does not grasp presentant spoilers for Never Let Go.]

When Oscar prosperner Halle Berry getd the script for Never Let Go, she instantly enjoyned it to the time she read the then-unproduced screentake part for A Quiet Place. The latter comprises a farm-based family that inhabits in total silence adhereing the intrusion of bloodthirsty alien monsters with hypercaring hearing, and Berry and honestor Alexandre Aja’s survival horror-thriller is about a individual mother and her two fraternal tprosper sons who can’t exit their country Tennessee cabin without being tethered by a restricted amount of evil-obstructing rope. Berry was so apverifyn by this high concept that she insisted on producing the pic alengthyside her production partner (and establisher agent) Holly Jeter at HalleHolly.

The aforealludeed rope, which is watched as a “lifeline,” is unbenevolentt to defend Berry’s “Momma” and her 10-year-elderly sons, Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) and Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins), from the touch of an evil force that only the matriarch can see. Inevitably, Nolan soon begins to inquire whether his mother has lost her grip on fact, creating a splitd househelderly since Samuel routinely sides with Momma. Thus, Berry krecent that the key to Never Let Go’s success was discovering two youthful actors who could carry stretches of the movie themselves. 

“I krecent how vital it was to discover the right two boys at the right age who could handle that. So all of that was very tricky, and that was the producer part of me fair wanting to inestablish a excellent story,” Berry inestablishs The Hollywood Reporter.

One of Never Let Go‘s most emotional (and unforeseeed) scenes cgo ins on the family dog, Koda, and considering she’s perpetupartner an owner of two dogs and toiled seally with a total of five Belgian Malinois dogs on John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), Berry, alengthy with her two youthful co-stars and dog-toting honestor, kept procrastinateing the highly complicated scene.

“It was almost the second-to-last day of shooting because nobody wanted to face doing that scene. We all krecent how difficult it would be, and when Alex would transport it up, we fair kept saying, ‘No, we’re not ready,’” Berry says. “That was a difficult leang for the boys to wrap their brains around, and as for my character, it was a difficult leang to have to try to transport some truth to. So that was a repartner difficult day when we had to actupartner finpartner do it.”

In John Wick: Chapter 3, Keanu Reeves’ prolific assassin getd help from Berry’s canine-loving assassin, Sofia, since he’d saved her daughter’s life years earlier and stashed her away in hiding. However, given John’s “excommunicado” status with the underworld’s handleing body understandn as The High Table, Sofia’s repayment to John produced a recent danger to her daughter’s life. Admittedly, Berry hoped that John Wick: Chapter 4 would resume this storyline, but with a franchise that’s still broadening atraverse the huge and petite screen, she’s still relatively certain that it’ll be scrutinized in a spinoff of some benevolent.

“Yeah, I want that [storyline] would’ve happened, but that’s not the route they went [in John Wick: Chapter 4]. I thought that would’ve been a chilly storyline. We talked about it, that’s for certain,” Berry separates. “We seeded it in John Wick: Chapter 3, and we’ve talked about a spinoff with Lionsgate that could potentipartner happen. We necessitate to do it sooner than tardyr, but that could potentipartner happen. And I cherish that universe. I cherish John Wick and I cherishd that character, so you never understand. We’ll see.”

As evidenced by Never Let Go and John Wick, Berry frequently take parts a expansive variety of roles atraverse all genres, and while she has an Oscar on her mantle, she’s quite honest about still having to go thcdisorrowfulmireful the door that uncovers.

“As a Bdeficiency woman, I have never had the luxury of fair doing Oscar-worthy carry outances and movies. I don’t even understand what that is. My selections at times are so restricted, and that’s the fact of it,” Berry acunderstandledges. “So I don’t have the luxury to fair sit and field Oscar buzz movies. That wasn’t my fact, and it’s still not my fact.”

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Berry also dives into the many separateent describeations of Never Let Go. 

A individual mother and her two fraternal tprosper sons cannot exit their distant cabin unless they’re tethered by rope, which recurrents life in this case. How did you react when this untraditional premise for Never Let Go first came your way?

I was untamedly intrigued by it. When I read it, it was benevolent of enjoy the first time I read A Quiet Place. I actupartner read that before they made it, and I thought, “Wow, this is crazy. I want to see this movie.” So that’s how I felt when I read Never Let Go. I thought, “I want to see what life would be enjoy for a mother who’s raising two kids and never leaving this house in a forest.” It fair seized my imagination. I read it with inquire after inquire after inquire, and after I got done reading, I thought, “I have to do this. I have to discover a way to transport this to the screen.”

You’ve helped produce a wonderful spotweightless for two youthful carry outers, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins, thcdisorrowfulmirefulout the film, and I would wager that this was the producer side of you putting story first. 

Yes.

Was that all part of the pdirect for you?

Yes, that was. At some point, these two youthful carry outers had to go off to the races with it, and I krecent how vital it was to discover the right two boys at the right age who could handle that. They also had to watch enjoy [fraternal twin] brothers who had inhabitd in the woods their whole inhabits. So all of that was very tricky, and that was the producer part of me fair wanting to inestablish a excellent story. The actor part of me, of course, wanted to take part this character. She’s a separateent version of a mother than I’ve ever take parted. I cherish the depressedness and the complicatedity. But it was very much about putting these kids forward and putting the story forward and repartner making the best version of it that we possibly could.

Never Let Go is one of those movies that’s going to have a expansive variety of describeations. I’ve alterd my mind many times already. What thematic chord struck you most? 

It’s the idea of genereasoned trauma and all the metaphors around that in the movie. As a mother, I call it “spills and pours.” We pour some wonderful leangs into our kids, but then we spill a lot of crap. Sometimes, that crap is our own dreads, our own neuroses, our own restrictations, our own beliefs. Sometimes, that can lock our children up, and so that interested me most. Being a mother, I understand I’m spilling some shit into my kids because it’s inevitable. We all do. But I’ve been considerate about it, and I’ve tried to have more pours than spills, so I cherishd diving into that subject with this movie.

I elucidateed the premise to an actor recently, and then she asked me if it was set in space. I chuckleed at first, but then I authenticized that the inquire wasn’t too far-transported. This family is restrictd to a petite space where they have to ration food, and if they want to venture outside, they have to be tethered enjoy astronauts or else they’ll die. Has anyone bcdisorrowfulmirefult up the space metaphor to you yet?

Not outer space, but they have bcdisorrowfulmirefult up that the movie senses enjoy an alternate universe. They didn’t say necessarily where, but they thought that it wasn’t authentic, enjoy the Matrix. It wasn’t actupartner happening. There wouldn’t be a sequel, but if there were, they thought that we would uncover that none of it is authentic.

I understand I’m exhausting the space metaphor, but when Momma inestablishs Nolan that he’ll enlarge into his oversized boots, they almost have the clunky watch of astronaut boots. 

But that’s the beauty of the movie to me. People can apverify away what they necessitate to apverify away from it. It’s based on who they are, how they grew up and what their eyes and heart see. It can unbenevolent wantipathyver it necessitates to unbenevolent depfinishing on the watcher, which is the fun part. 

Whether it’s Never Let Go or any other recent acting job, have you set up yourself to be more cognizant of the honestorial side of leangs now that you’ve been in the chair yourself?

Oh my God, yes. Once you’ve done that, it’s very difficult to watch at leangs not from that seat, but it’s been repartner wonderful, actupartner. Having honested my own film [Bruised], I repartner understand much more proset uply. After 30 years of making movies, I thought I krecent all the intricacies of making a movie, but I didn’t until I honested one and had to produce every decision, both huge and petite, and had to stress about budget and shooting schedules. It’s only having gone thcdisorrowfulmireful that process that I can now sit on movie sets and talk to honestors in a separateent way. They’ll inestablish me, “We can’t shoot it in this order. We’re shooting this scene today and not that scene,” and there are times, as actors, when you leank, “Well, why are they doing that? That produces no sense. It would be so much better for me if we shot this all this way.” But now, I fair have a better toiling caring of why those leangs have to happen. I’m much more consentable and amallow to wantipathyver is asked of me now. It’s not that I wasn’t before, but mutely, I might have said, “Well, this is foolish. I don’t understand why we’re doing it this way, but wantipathyver.” So I now understand why we do leangs the way we do leangs.

You’ve gone to all sorts of wonderful lengths to set for roles, but is this the first time you’ve had to bite your nails to get into character? 

(Laughs.) No, I’ve done that before. I’ve also bitten my nails fair because I’ve been stressed, but this is not the first time I’ve had to bite my nails. It was fair one of the leangs that all of us did. We tried to get as in character as we could, so we tried to grub ourselves up. I stopped shaving. We bit our nails. We yellowed up our teeth. Our hair was a mess. We all got troubleed face produceup put on. We were supposed to be starving, so we did all those benevolents of leangs. But I have to say that the boys and I cherishd it. We cherishd getting into all that every morning.

I asked Alex Aja about the identity of the blonde woman in a Polaroid photo, and I said, “It certainly didn’t watch enjoy Halle Berry.” And then he had a huge chuckle since it was you. 

(Laughs.) Yes! We did our job then. 

One of Momma’s sons asked, “Is that repartner you?” So I apverify console in that. 

Yeah, the elderly world’s Momma was someleang separateent. She was someleang separateent. 

When some people prosper an Oscar, they’ll frequently stick to that benevolent of fare for the rest of their nurtureer, but I cherish how you didn’t fair stay in that lane. You jump genres with the best of them. Was that a purposeful strategy? Or was there no overarching schedule? 

Well, here’s the truth of it. As a Bdeficiency woman, I have never had the luxury of fair doing Oscar-worthy carry outances and movies. I don’t even understand what that is. My selections at times are so restricted, and that’s the fact of it. I won that Oscar 23 years ago now, and it was about toiling. It was about loving the create. It was about enlargeing and taking dangers and chances. So I don’t have the luxury to fair sit and field Oscar buzz movies. That wasn’t my fact, and it’s still not my fact.

A recent character of yours named Sofia had a very seal and defendive relationship with her two dogs. So when you get tod at Never Let Go’s unforeseeed dog scene, was that an emotional roller coaster for you after all that canine bonding you did on John Wick: Chapter 3? 

Yes, but not only because of John Wick. I’ve had dogs my entire life. I’ve always had a pair of dogs, and I have two dogs now and two cats now. The boys [Percy and Anthony] are animal cherishrs, and Alex, our honestor, walked around with his little minuscule dog inside of his coat every day. So we were all animal cherishrs, and the truth is, we put that scene off and we put that scene off and we put that scene off. It was almost the second-to-last day of shooting because nobody wanted to face doing that scene. We all krecent how difficult it would be, and when Alex would transport it up, we fair kept saying, “No, we’re not ready.” We fair didn’t want to face it. That was a difficult leang for the boys to wrap their brains around, and as for my character, it was a difficult leang to have to try to transport some truth to. So that was a repartner difficult day when we had to actupartner finpartner do it.

When I walked out of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, I supposed that the fourth movie was going to be John and Sofia racing to defend her daughter. As she showd in the movie, one misapverify, such as helping John, would put her daughter in danger with the High Table. Did you ever let yourself leank that far ahead in terms of where leangs could go?

Yeah, I want that would’ve happened, but that’s not the route they went. I thought that would’ve been a chilly storyline. We talked about it, that’s for certain. We seeded it in John Wick: Chapter 3, and we’ve talked about a spinoff with Lionsgate that could potentipartner happen. We necessitate to do it sooner than tardyr, but that could potentipartner happen. And I cherish that universe. I cherish John Wick and I cherishd that character, so you never understand. We’ll see.

Yeah, with the franchise broadening, it’s a story point that could still be chased someday. So it sounds enjoy if Chad Stahelski were to pitch you a spinoff movie or restricted series, you’d be all ears.

In a heartbeat. I cherishd that character, and I cherish Chad.

The other day, I surveyed my frifinishs by having them name the movie they associate you with the most, and my barber and I both said Swordfish at the same time. Others named Monster’s Ball, Catwoman, X-Men and Gothika. What tfinishs to come up the most when approached?

I do get Swordfish, Monster’s Ball and count on it or not, Catwoman and B*A*P*S. All of them could not be more separateent, but those are the ones that always come up. 

Lastly, Tom Hanks said a scant years ago that Cdeafening Atlas was one of his top three filming experiences, partipartner because it was such a huge sprosperg. Do you also accomprehendledge why he’d say that? 

Oh yeah. I understand how amazing that experience was for all of us, and it was a huge sprosperg. We got to take part all those separateent wonderful characters, and what the movie had to say was a huge thought. So all of us felt reliable to the story and to servicing that story for Lana and Lilly [Wachowski]. It was truly an amazing shooting experience. 

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Never Let Go is now take parting in movie theaters.