When Halle Berry posted a photo of her naked back to Instagram, the internet went wild. The 53-year-old actress posed next to her stove, a pan in one hand and an egg raised above her head in the other. What caught people’s attention, however, was the massive tattoo that ran along Berry’s spine like a vine, with leaves sprouting out on either side from her nape to her tailbone.
Halle Berry flaunted the new ink
For a while, Berry let everyone stew in their curiosity, questioning whether the tattoo was real and what it meant. Finally, she addressed the hubbub during a visit to The Late Late Show with James Corden. The titular James Corden questioned the John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum star about the tattoo and also joked about the dangers of cooking topless. Though the actress initially played coy, she eventually revealed that the ink was in fact a fake.
“I am starting a new movie in a few months so I’m trying out different tattoos to see what will fit best for my character,” Berry explained, though she didn’t name the film. “I’m discovering how long will they last, how much wear will I get out of one, so I know how much it’s all going to cost.” We know now that the movie Berry was prepping for was John Wick 3, where she played the mysterious assassin Sofia. The vine tattoo didn’t end up making the final cut in the movie. Berry sported an Arabic tattoo on her neck instead.
The actress took a method approach
This isn’t the first time Berry has gone method while preparing to take on a movie role. In her very first movie, Jungle Fever, Berry was cast as Vivian, a woman with a drug addiction. In a 2012 interview on The Wendy Williams Show, Berry was asked about a rumor that host Wendy Williams found. “I read that you didn’t take a shower for, like, ten days to really get into the role,” Williams said.
“Yeah, true,” Berry responded instantly. When Williams said she didn’t believe it, Berry laughingly said, “No, that’s true! Ask Sam Jackson. He had to get a whiff of it, constantly.” Clearly, committing to the role is something Berry does well. Her co-stars would probably prefer fake tattoos to “the funk,” however.
After starring in John Wick 3 with Keanu Reeves, tabloids began spinning rumors that the two were becoming romantically involved. Life & Style reported in 2018 that Reeves and Berry were in a “hot new romance.” Gossip Cop checked in with a source close to Berry who was able to tell us, on condition of anonymity, that the outlet’s claims were untrue. There have been so many false rumors about Berry’s romantic life, we wrote an entire article about them. It’s almost as if the tabloids are trying to get the story wrong.