BETTY: Congratulations on your marvelous portrayal in this movie. It must've been gut-wrenching to not only work those emotional scenes - but I heard you shot this in 24 days. Did you have time to feel the impact of it all or did that come after you left the production?
HALLE: Hmm, probably after to tell you the truth. What I did feel was everybody's passion. Everybody was there working for nothing like what they could get paid to do... and everybody brought in a different point of view that they were equally impassioned about. That I did feel. I didn't feel the impact of it until I actually saw the movie. And I thought, "Wow. That's what we did?"

BETTY: It looks like you're getting pretty comfortable with nude scenes. First "Swordfish" and now this... any comments on the two?
HALLE: They were like night and day. I make no excuses for it, but one (Swordfish) was very gratuitous and for shock value. The only justification I had was that I thought that woman would do that. But with Monster's Ball, without this scene, I think it would be a very different movie. I think it's a pivotal moment and from that moment on, you understand why these two people get together.

BETTY: So was that it for nudity? Will you keep taking your clothes off?
HALLE: I won't say no but I don't know. If another role affects me like this and I feel it's something the character would do - then I'll use my body in way to best serve the character.

Billy Bob Thornton & Halle Berry star in Monster's Ball

BETTY: Is there a double standard in the industry with regards to female vs. male nudity on screen?
HALLE: Definitely. That's why I was so happy that Billy [Bob Thornton] went to the same place I went to. He was as naked, as nude, as exposed, as I was. You saw everything on him as you did me. Men don't have breasts so we didn't get that thrill. But he was just as vulnerable.

BETTY: I heard it was contractually written that you and Billy had final cut on those scenes. Did that help in your decision to really go for it emotionally?
HALLE: That freed us up to go wherever we wanted. We knew that if it didn't look right or if it was too far or if we got outside of our heads too much - we could erase it. We were totally free.

BETTY: Since there was so much publicity over the bonus of $500,000 for the gratuitous boob shot in Swordfish - did Joel Silver ask for a refund?
HALLE: Knowing Joel, he would probably feel that way, but he didn't have the balls to call me on the phone and ask me. (laughs)

BETTY: You've already walked away with some great awards for your role as Dorothy Dandridge, but I feel this one is the biggy for you. Have you allowed yourself yet to dream of winning Oscar?
HALLE: I'm trying really hard not to take myself there. Because after all, it's never been done before. I'm just hoping that the buzz for this movie helps draw people out there to see it. As for thinking about winning an Oscar - I don't want anything to take the focus away from why I did this movie. Oscar could go to anybody and there were so many wonderful performances this year. I've never used that as validation for my work.

BETTY: I've read before that you love to play these tortured characters. What about them attracts you?
HALLE: For me, it's very cathartic. At the end of the movie I felt so fresh and clean - like I got to release some of the demons inside of me. A lot of things get held inside and through art I'm able to purge myself of all of that. I actually got to work out some issues for myself and that's why I love to do it.

Halle Berry & Dante Beze in Monster's Ball

BETTY: How about the child beating scene in this movie? How did the young actor (Dante Beze) handle Halle Berry hitting him?
HALLE: I don't have a secret desire to beat children. That was harder than any scene...harder than the scene where I'm butt naked. He's a real child and he has real issues with obesity and all the emotional baggage that goes along with that. I was worried that making this movie could really damage him - perhaps for the rest of his life.

So before (and after) every scene I'd hug him and kiss him. And what I've done since filming is stay in his life. I really want to be involved and keep in touch with him. He told me a lot of things about who he is and about the pain he keeps inside.

BETTY: That's admirable. Some actresses wouldn't even take the time to sign the kid's script. Hey, is it true that you may also be a James Bond lady? And if so, which villainous powers would you like to possess?
HALLE: Um, maybe. We're working out all that stuff right now. I guess I'd like to have a tongue that chokes him!

BETTY: Your personal life has certainly had it's fair share of ups and downs. Are you amazed at where you are right now with your life?
HALLE: Probably - because there were moments when I thought that this or that was going to do me in. But nothing has! So now I believe nothing's going to do me in really. I survived. And that's what life is about; peaks and valleys. I learned the most about life and myself in those really dark hours.