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The Second Coming of Halle Berry | What Now? with Trevor Noah Podcast

Halle Berry has found her purpose. She’s chatting with Myself and Christiana about the jaw dropping personal experience that led her to her new project: promoting the conversation around women’s longevity and creating tools for those…

Trevor NoahhostChristianahostHalle Berryguest

Feb 20, 202553mWatch on YouTube

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Transcript

60 min read · 11,909 words

0:00 – 3:30
Intro
1. TNTrevor Noah
  It's always like what I call the plus-one purchase in a, in a pharmacy. No one will go in and just buy lube.
2. CHChristiana
  [laughs]
3. HBHalle Berry
  Right.
4. TNTrevor Noah
  No one.
5. HBHalle Berry
  Right.
6. TNTrevor Noah
  People are always like, "Oh, get a bunch of other things. Shampoo."
7. CHChristiana
  Orange juice.
8. HBHalle Berry
  Right.
9. TNTrevor Noah
  Get some, yeah, you right. There it is.
10. HBHalle Berry
  Buy condom.
11. TNTrevor Noah
  Paper.
12. HBHalle Berry
  'Cause I know I go buy condoms.
13. TNTrevor Noah
  Yeah, no, no, no.
14. CHChristiana
  [laughs]
15. HBHalle Berry
  You're gonna throw some other stuff in there.
16. TNTrevor Noah
  No, you throw everything else in, and then you just like, "Ah, lube, uh, this..." And then God forbid the lube doesn't scan.
17. HBHalle Berry
  [laughs]
18. TNTrevor Noah
  Like, if it doesn't, like, if that code doesn't work.
19. CHChristiana
  [laughs] [upbeat music]
20. TNTrevor Noah
  This is What Now? With Trevor Noah.
21. CHChristiana
  [upbeat music] You know what, the more kids you have, the harder the pregnancies become, 'cause if you got pregnant now and you had to run it after your-
22. HBHalle Berry
  Well, now I'm 58, that'd be pregnant, like, it'd be hard for that reason.
23. CHChristiana
  No, you could-
24. HBHalle Berry
  Get the kids in home
25. TNTrevor Noah
  Is that real, though? Are you sure that you're 58?
26. HBHalle Berry
  I'm, I'm positive.
27. CHChristiana
  [laughs]
28. TNTrevor Noah
  No, I, I ask you this, I ask you this because, like, some people don't know... Like, maybe you don't... Like, are you sure, sure?
29. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
30. CHChristiana
  He's like your biological-
3:30 – 13:00
Discovering perimenopause symptoms
1. HBHalle Berry
  is that?
2. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
3. HBHalle Berry
  Right? And why can't we redefine ourselves? And we are here for more than babymaking.
4. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
5. HBHalle Berry
  That's a wonderful, glorious thing that we do, but we're here for so much more than that. But the world has told us, after we do that, we're done. I'm here to say, no, that's not true. We're, that's not true, and how are we gonna live this thing out in our, in best, in our best health?
6. CHChristiana
  So Halle, I'm so curious, because this is something me and my friends talk about a lot, that we know, like, all of our mothers went through menopause, but they've never discussed it with us, right? So what-
7. TNTrevor Noah
  Like, they've never said anything to... Is this, like, an African mother thing, or?
8. CHChristiana
  No, just all the-
9. TNTrevor Noah
  Oh, wow. Okay.
10. HBHalle Berry
  All mothers.
11. CHChristiana
  All my girlfriends, Black, white, e- we're always like, you know, we're like, "When will, you know, perimenopause?" We, we have lots of questions, 'cause we're, like-
12. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah
13. CHChristiana
  ... a lot of us are going into perimenopause now, right?
14. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah, yeah.
15. CHChristiana
  And it's like this-
16. TNTrevor Noah
  Wait, wait, for those who don't know, what is-
17. CHChristiana
  Perimenopause-
18. TNTrevor Noah
  ... perimenopause?
19. CHChristiana
  ... is a period before menopause, which is chaotic and very difficult for women, and you have, like, memory loss and anxiety, and you-
20. HBHalle Berry
  And I think peri is the worst. Once you get in the menopause-
21. CHChristiana
  Yeah
22. HBHalle Berry
  ... like, you're kind of on the other side of it.
23. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
24. TNTrevor Noah
  Wow.
25. HBHalle Berry
  It's the peri is where it's the hardest.
26. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
27. HBHalle Berry
  I'm still in peri, too, and I'm like, man, I got three more months, and then I'm gonna be in the menopause if I don't menstruate.
28. CHChristiana
  [laughs]
29. TNTrevor Noah
  [laughs]
30. HBHalle Berry
  And man, I'm gonna be so happy to be in that menopause. [laughs]
13:00 – 29:00
Medical knowledge gaps for women's health
1. TNTrevor Noah
  know about women's issues.
2. HBHalle Berry
  Yes.
3. TNTrevor Noah
  Do you know what I mean?
4. HBHalle Berry
  Because we haven't been studied in the same way-
5. CHChristiana
  Yeah
6. HBHalle Berry
  ... men have. We only were allowed, um, to be, be, be a part of clinical studies in 1993.
7. TNTrevor Noah
  '93.
8. HBHalle Berry
  1993-
9. TNTrevor Noah
  Oh, wow
10. HBHalle Berry
  ... was when they started-
11. CHChristiana
  Great
12. HBHalle Berry
  ... including women-
13. TNTrevor Noah
  Oh
14. HBHalle Berry
  ... in the clinical studies.
15. TNTrevor Noah
  I didn't know it was that late.
16. CHChristiana
  But the thing is, they do- they know we- our periods cease at a point. Like, I would accept that, like-
17. TNTrevor Noah
  Yeah
18. CHChristiana
  ... as an reason. Yeah, there's some things you don't know, but this, this is not unknowable. We know that women, at a certain point, if you live long enough, you'll-
19. HBHalle Berry
  Right
20. CHChristiana
  ... probably stop menstruating.
21. TNTrevor Noah
  Right.
22. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
23. CHChristiana
  And the period before that can be difficult. Well, doctors should know that, I guess, is what I think.
24. TNTrevor Noah
  But they didn't, so they didn't prepare-
25. HBHalle Berry
  Well-
26. TNTrevor Noah
  ... you at all
27. HBHalle Berry
  ... not at all
28. TNTrevor Noah
  No one says, "Hey, just so you know, you're getting to..." Like, for instance, okay, so when I turned 40, without fail my doctor was just like, "How old are you? 40?" Even when I was, like, 38, they're like, "38?" They're like, "Soon you're gonna need to go and get your prostate checked."
29. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
30. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
29:00 – 35:00
Personal transformation and finding purpose
1. TNTrevor Noah
  is a situation that you are in and you've accepted.
2. HBHalle Berry
  Mm.
3. TNTrevor Noah
  Because when I, when I look at the journey of Halle Berry, I've gone back to interviews that you did in, like, 1992, just, like, random moments with local newspapers and-
4. HBHalle Berry
  Wow
5. TNTrevor Noah
  ... and it's amazing. No, it's, it's-
6. HBHalle Berry
  Mm
7. TNTrevor Noah
  ... really amazing to see how you were trying to pitch yourself as a serious actor, as somebody who's in the game, as somebody who takes their craft seriously. And without fail, your beauty will always be put first before everything. And by the way, I'm not even, like, judging people, 'cause I know I'm part of them.
8. HBHalle Berry
  [laughs]
9. TNTrevor Noah
  I'm not, like, sitting here like I was, like, I'm not gonna be here like, "No, I was..." You say Halle Berry, and then I was like, "Hallelujah."
10. HBHalle Berry
  [laughs]
11. TNTrevor Noah
  You get what I'm saying? But I, but I, I ... It- it's such a strange thing, because someone would go, like, "Oh, but it's, like, a good problem." But I feel like you are the embodiment of that in a very specific way.
12. HBHalle Berry
  Mm.
13. TNTrevor Noah
  And now you're using some of that experience to try and rally against the idea, because y- you are the epitome of that, and you work in an industry where many actresses have said across the board, God forbid, a wrinkle starts popping out the corner of your eye-
14. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah
15. TNTrevor Noah
  ... out the corner of your mouth, and all of a sudden they're like, "Do you wanna play someone's mom?"
16. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
17. TNTrevor Noah
  And the roles dry up and the, you know, everything disappears, whereas, like, George Clooney, he's still the heartthrob. Him and Brad Pitt-
18. HBHalle Berry
  Oh, my God
19. TNTrevor Noah
  ... let's do it, baby.
20. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah. [laughs]
21. TNTrevor Noah
  No one's like, "Wait, they're how old?"
22. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
23. TNTrevor Noah
  No, everyone's just like, "George Clooney, Brad Pitt. Oh, yeah."
24. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
25. TNTrevor Noah
  But if, like, two women of the same age in Hollywood were trying to do that, someone would go, "Huh, that's an interesting, uh-
26. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah, yeah. [laughs]
27. TNTrevor Noah
  ... what is it, like, a, like a mom's weekend movie?
28. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah. MILF.
29. TNTrevor Noah
  What is-
30. HBHalle Berry
  A MILF movie. [laughs]
35:00 – 41:00
Impact on relationships and marriages
1. HBHalle Berry
  years and saying, "Hey, bud, you don't know about my body. I'm out of here." These are the kinds of decisions we have to start making for ourself, because we deserve healthcare, and we deserve doctors that understand what's happening, and not many do. So we have to search them out, and maybe sometimes you have to have a doctor that's in another state-
2. CHChristiana
  Wow
3. HBHalle Berry
  ... that you can connect with-
4. TNTrevor Noah
  That's wild
5. HBHalle Berry
  ... that can guide you.
6. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
7. HBHalle Berry
  You might not be able just to go see your doctor that you always went to go see. You might have to look outside those boundaries-
8. CHChristiana
  Yeah
9. HBHalle Berry
  ... and find a place where you can really get the information you need and be cared for. And we have to do it ourselves, and we can't s- keep our heads in the mud and think that, "It's gonna skip me," 'cause that's what I thought. No, ignorant. We cannot come from that place.
10. CHChristiana
  Mm-hmm.
11. HBHalle Berry
  We have to go do the work and start educating ourselves and make some tough choices for ourselves.
12. TNTrevor Noah
  I only realized how opaque this world was when... So, um, I saw you in Sweden. We were in Stockholm.
13. HBHalle Berry
  Yes.
14. TNTrevor Noah
  Right?
15. HBHalle Berry
  [laughs] Mm.
16. TNTrevor Noah
  And you were speaking, and you were, you were sharing, like, some of your experience, and I'll never forget how... Like, like, if you've never been to Sweden-
17. HBHalle Berry
  Mm-hmm
18. TNTrevor Noah
  ... like, if you've never been to Scandinavia, understand something: the Scandinavians are the most put together-
19. HBHalle Berry
  Mm. [laughs]
20. TNTrevor Noah
  ... non-disruptive, polite people you will ever come across.
21. HBHalle Berry
  They're oh-so-polite. [laughs]
22. TNTrevor Noah
  Yeah. They're like, "Hey, you keep to yourself."
23. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
24. TNTrevor Noah
  "Everyone does their own thing. You've all got your own house, and let's keep it moving."
25. HBHalle Berry
  [laughs]
26. TNTrevor Noah
  Do you know what I mean?
27. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
28. TNTrevor Noah
  Like, it's very, very, very polite society. And when Halle was speaking on stage, people, like-
29. HBHalle Berry
  [laughs]
30. TNTrevor Noah
  ... it was, it was amazing because it was like watching the human body go through two conflicting e- emotions at the same time. On the one hand, you would see these, like, these, these Scandinavian women, like, stiffen up like, "You shouldn't be saying this," but then their heads would turn like, "Tell me more."
41:00 – 45:00
Development of respin products and solutions
1. TNTrevor Noah
  [laughs]
2. HBHalle Berry
  Not if this ain't working.
3. CHChristiana
  [laughs]
4. TNTrevor Noah
  [laughs]
5. HBHalle Berry
  No, 'cause he's gonna want what he's gonna want.
6. CHChristiana
  [laughs]
7. HBHalle Berry
  So no, I have to keep this working.
8. TNTrevor Noah
  Right.
9. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
10. HBHalle Berry
  But because as women, we failed to keep it working, there have been so many divorces just for that reason. So many. I'll tell you a story.
11. CHChristiana
  Mm.
12. HBHalle Berry
  I have a friend who will remain nameless, but he came to me and he said, "Halle, I'm, I'm gonna get a divorce," and I've known him a long time, and I was like, "But what? You love your wife. Like, what is happening?" This was like two years ago. And he said, "She just doesn't want me anymore. Like, I don't know what has happened. We were doing so good. I thought we were gonna ride this thing out. I would go to her, I would try to touch her, and she would pull away-
13. CHChristiana
  Mm
14. HBHalle Berry
  ... and she's got someone else or something. She's just, she doesn't feel it for me anymore."
15. TNTrevor Noah
  Damn.
16. CHChristiana
  Mm-hmm.
17. HBHalle Berry
  And I just said, "Wow," and I couldn't believe it, and I was just formulating all of my ideas about what I'm doing now about menopause and how she might be feeling. And I said to him, I said, "This is gonna sound crazy to you, but go home and start a conversation with her about perimenopause, and just start asking her how she's feeling down there."
18. CHChristiana
  Mm.
19. HBHalle Berry
  "Is she feeling dry? Is she feeling headachy? Like, just go have a conversation," and I told him all the things to say. Two weeks later, I see him again. He's like, "Oh my God, Halle, you were right. She did not... It's not that she didn't want me."
20. CHChristiana
  Mm.
21. HBHalle Berry
  "She thought that every time I touched her, I was going to want sex, and she knew that that was so-
22. TNTrevor Noah
  Oh
23. HBHalle Berry
  ... painful for her-
24. TNTrevor Noah
  Oh, wow.
25. CHChristiana
  Oh, God
26. HBHalle Berry
  ... and she didn't want to feel that, and she was tired of faking it. She was tired of having it be so excruciating, painful, but had to act like it wasn't hurting-
27. TNTrevor Noah
  Damn
28. HBHalle Berry
  ... at all.
29. CHChristiana
  Oh my gosh.
30. HBHalle Berry
  And he was like, "That's what it was all about"-
45:00 – 51:00
Age considerations and early intervention
1. CHChristiana
  Gotcha.
2. HBHalle Berry
  70, maybe too late.
3. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
4. HBHalle Berry
  That's not what I should be answering today. I think y- that's what you need to go talk-
5. CHChristiana
  So the message is-
6. HBHalle Berry
  ... to a menopausal doctor about
7. CHChristiana
  ... actually we need to, to women, as early as possible-
8. HBHalle Berry
  Yes, yes
9. CHChristiana
  ... be on this journey
10. HBHalle Berry
  And start thinking about it at 35.
11. CHChristiana
  Mm-hmm.
12. HBHalle Berry
  At 35, because, you know, our childbearing years are 25 to 35, and at 35, that's when the h- estrogen starts to leave and we have to start realizing, "Okay, this period's coming upon us."
13. CHChristiana
  Mm-hmm.
14. HBHalle Berry
  So at 35, I think we have to start talking to our doctors. If they're not talking to you, talk to them. F- get the right doctor, and start talking about it. What can I do so that I sail through to this moment-
15. CHChristiana
  Okay
16. HBHalle Berry
  ... right? And that I don't suffer the way the women before me have suffered.
17. TNTrevor Noah
  Be- before we lose you, I, I'd love to know how this journey has been informed by or has affected your professional slash sort of life journey, and I know the two are connected, but I, I, I can't help but see all the links between them. You know, like Christiana and I will talk about all the time with, let's say, pregnancy or motherhood and how it clashes with the way we've built corporate life-
18. HBHalle Berry
  Mm
19. TNTrevor Noah
  ... and companies. And you're in an industry that's unique, but at the same time isn't really in, in, in, in some ways, in that, like, you know, y- if you're a woman in Hollywood, if you're a woman in, in certain jobs, you know, how you look, how you're perceived, how you're seen affects your ability to work or not work. And I, I'd love to know how have you navigated a world that has told you you don't hold as much value when you're building up all these other different facets of yourself that do hold value. Like, 'cause there's a moment before Respin where Halle Berry is, as you said, y- you found another thing, and this is-
20. HBHalle Berry
  Mm
21. TNTrevor Noah
  ... y- your second act. But I, I would love to know how you were navigating that experience, because it can be a scary one-
22. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah
23. TNTrevor Noah
  ... for people, uh, in all walks of life.
24. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
25. TNTrevor Noah
  I just think Hollywood gets all the shine.
26. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah, mm-hmm.
27. TNTrevor Noah
  But I think many people will experience that, where they go, "Oh, I, I didn't know what to do once my kids left for college. I'd always identified as a mom, and I, I was raising these kids, and now they're gone, and, and I just realize now my career as a mom is sort of over in that way." Or someone goes, "Oh, I've now gone back to the office, and you know, my career is this," or, "I've left the office, and I'm, I'm struggling with the way the world has now changed its perception of me."
28. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
29. TNTrevor Noah
  I'd love to know how you, how you navigated it, what you experienced, and what you learned, and if you learned something from this part of it that's, that's sort of helped you or if it was part of the reason that Respin started.
30. HBHalle Berry
  It's certainly part of the reason that Respin started. I, I, I, I struggled to understand what this company was. I knew it was always respining everything we thought we knew, but I didn't have a there there. I didn't have the real purpose of what the there there was, and when I realized that menopause needs the biggest respin of all, then I realized, oh, that's what... That's why I've been building this company. Even if I didn't, even when I didn't know why really-
51:00 – 52:30
Black womanhood perspective and resilience
1. HBHalle Berry
  you go through, you grow through.
2. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
3. HBHalle Berry
  You learn. That's why we're here, right? But I've always just known I have value here and I have a purpose. So finding Respin and finding this cause-
4. CHChristiana
  Mm
5. HBHalle Berry
  ... of menopause is like, oh, another one of my purposes.
6. TNTrevor Noah
  Mm.
7. HBHalle Berry
  Like winning that Oscar that time, I was chosen to do that too.
8. TNTrevor Noah
  Yeah.
9. CHChristiana
  Mm-hmm.
10. HBHalle Berry
  To open that door. I knew it was bigger than me, right? I hope this year someone stands next to me this year. I hope it happens.
11. TNTrevor Noah
  [laughs]
12. CHChristiana
  Mm.
13. HBHalle Berry
  'Cause I'm tired of occupying that space alone.
14. TNTrevor Noah
  Right.
15. CHChristiana
  Mm-hmm.
16. HBHalle Berry
  I hope some- hope, I hope this is the year, right? But even if it's not, I was chosen in that moment to be a beacon of possibility, right?
17. TNTrevor Noah
  Right.
18. HBHalle Berry
  And I do think it served that purpose.
19. CHChristiana
  Yeah. Yeah.
20. HBHalle Berry
  And I think I'm sitting in this moment also, talking about menopause and telling my own story and being bald and bold, it's also to be a beacon of possibility as where we can go as women and what we deserve, and knowing that we're more than this shell, right?
21. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
22. HBHalle Berry
  That we are complicated, we are beautiful, we are strong. We deserve a second act. We deserve all things good. We've raised our children, we sacrificed our bodies.
23. CHChristiana
  Mm-hmm.
24. HBHalle Berry
  Right? We've given what we have to give. I can't believe we live in a world that now says, "We got nothing for you."
25. CHChristiana
  Mm-hmm.
26. HBHalle Berry
  "Sorry." I don't believe that, right?
27. CHChristiana
  Yeah.
28. HBHalle Berry
  But I know we have to change that for ourselves, and I, and I realize this is my second act purpose, to help change that narrative. That's my purpose.
29. TNTrevor Noah
  That's amazing, that that teacher poured into you, and I feel like you're now pouring into everybody else.
30. HBHalle Berry
  Yeah.
52:30 – 53:08
Teacher's influence and lasting legacy
1. HBHalle Berry
  I'm so happy to be here.
2. TNTrevor Noah
  This was so much fun.
3. CHChristiana
  I wish you could stay longer.
4. HBHalle Berry
  I know.
5. TNTrevor Noah
  This is... You'll come back.
6. HBHalle Berry
  I will come back.
7. TNTrevor Noah
  You'll be, you'll come back.
8. HBHalle Berry
  I will come back.
9. TNTrevor Noah
  There'll be more Respin. The, I can see it, it's gonna like...
10. CHChristiana
  I want the supplements.
11. TNTrevor Noah
  It's infinite.
12. CHChristiana
  That's what I'm ready for.
13. TNTrevor Noah
  It's infinite.
14. HBHalle Berry
  That's the next thing we're doing.
15. CHChristiana
  See?
16. TNTrevor Noah
  You see?
17. HBHalle Berry
  We're, we're working on that.
18. CHChristiana
  I want the supplements.
19. TNTrevor Noah
  It's, I knew it, it's infinite.
20. HBHalle Berry
  We're working on it.
21. CHChristiana
  Okay, great.
22. HBHalle Berry
  All things, yeah.
23. TNTrevor Noah
  It's gonna be... And thank you so much for joining us, and thank you for sharing. Thank you for pouring your hearts out. Thank you. You know? Thank you for being you.
24. HBHalle Berry
  Thank you.
25. TNTrevor Noah
  I appreciate it.
26. HBHalle Berry
  Thank you. You too. [upbeat jazz music]