Halle Berry: "Knocked Out Three Times" and 10 Broken Bones in a Career of Stunts
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry has revealed the extensive list of injuries she has sustained throughout her career, highlighting her dedication to performing her own action-packed stunts.
In a recent interview with Netflix promoting her upcoming film, *The Union*, Berry detailed a staggering array of injuries, including:
A broken arm
Broken ribs (twice â two ribs on one occasion and three on another)
A fractured tailbone
Two broken toes
A broken middle finger
Co-star Mark Wahlberg, listening in on the interview, expressed disbelief and shock at each revelation.
Berry also spoke about some of the more demanding stunts she has undertaken, including a particularly harrowing scene in the 2012 film *Dark Tide*.
"I played a freediver. I had to hold my breath for almost two and a half minutes," Berry recounted. "And that felt like eternity. It felt like death was imminent."
While Wahlberg joked about his own "torn meniscus, separated shoulder, ego bruised quite a few times â banged up", Berry's list underscored her commitment to physicality.
She also mentioned acquiring numerous martial arts skills, including jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, kickboxing, taekwondo and shooting, as well as capoeira, which she studied for *Catwoman*.
The injuries were not all for show. Berry previously disclosed that she broke ribs while filming the 2021 film *Bruised*, but chose to work through the pain rather than 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," she explained. "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.'"
Eric Brown, the fight choreographer and stunt coordinator on *Bruised*, also commented on Berry's dedication, stating, "Halle's a special case. I've worked with tons of actors, and almost none of them have that kind of work ethic."
In *The Union*, Berry plays Roxanne, a former high school sweetheart who recruits Mike, a down-to-earth construction worker played by Wahlberg, for a high-stakes US intelligence mission. The film, also starring J.K. Simmons and Mike Colter, is set to debut on Netflix on 16 August.
