Halle Berry fans are wondering what is going on with the former beauty pageant queen after she surprised her Instagram followers by revealing a rather “musty” new look.
In a recent Instagram post, the Oscar-winning actress appeared with no makeup, disheveled hair, and another shocking element on her body parts: her underarm hair.
Her 8.9 million followers immediately flooded the comments, expressing a mix of shock, amusement, and confusion about her Saturday, Sept. 28, post.
Some questioned whether something was wrong with the “Boomerang” star, who has long been considered one of Hollywood’s most beautiful women.
“Ewwww,” one person wrote, while another asked, “Why Halle Berry got a marsupial cuddling in her armpit???”
Still, there were jokes, with one person writing, “Looks like u had Don King in a headlock. Hallleeee I am hollering,” while others gave her nicknames like “Halle Hairy” and “Hairy Berry.”
Despite the teasing, some followers were into it. “Even with all that under arm hair your still [Fire emojis],” someone commented.
“Omg please get rid of it,” wrote another observer, before Berry replied, “It’s GONE” with a laughing emoji.
However, those same fans clearly didn’t read Berry’s caption before reacting. She explained in the post, “Momma in the making [movie emoji]. One of the most complex characters I’ve had the pleasure of embodying. #NeverLetGo is in theaters everywhere!”
Berry portrays the character Momma in a new horror-thriller “Never Let Go” directed by Alexandre Aja. In the carousel of images, the 58-year-old actress shows off her fake armpit hair in a video and a mirror selfie. One video in the series is of the crew clapping as Berry celebrates a successful film shoot.
Then there are some very stylized images, like one of her rocking a blond wig and a denim top, and the last being a topless Berry posing for a mirror selfie.
Some fans, who had already seen the movie, celebrated her performance, with some even suggesting her role was Oscar-worthy. They also praised the makeup artist, Norma Patton-Lowin, for her incredible work on Berry’s transformation.
“A whole forest there lol! Great job by the makeup artist! Bravo Halle on the role as a whole!” one fan wrote.
Another said, “Wow, the things actors do to fulfill the roles they’re in. Thought for a moment Halle had started to grow an armpit jungle. So funny, LOL!!!”
Halle Hairy
— Hb (@Hbskiiiii) September 28, 2024
In first the clip, Berry is seen joking with Patton-Lowin, asking her, “So what’s happening here, Norma? What did you do? What did you do there, Norma?” The two laugh as they talk about the transformation.
Patton-Lowin joined the other fans and commented on the post, writing, “Thank you Halle for letting me take you to the limit for your character! I had a lot of fun working with you to create Momma [heart and prayer hand emoji].”
Though the makeup work was so convincing that many thought Berry’s underarm hair was real, this is not the first time that fans jumped to conclusions when it comes to the “Catwoman” star. Two days before her birthday on Aug. 14, many weighed in on Berry’s outfit on the red carpet at her other new movie called “The Union.”
The mother of two wore a black, neck plunge, long-sleeved dress that was made of mesh and lace material, and many thought she was dressing inappropriately for her age and commented that she might be struggling with getting older and finding her balance between being sexy and mature.
While Berry was not going through a midlife crisis as some wondered, the intense role seemed to push her limits.
In April, Berry spoke about “Never Let Go” at CinemaCon, revealing that she had to do some “Method acting” to get ready for the role and it was intense. Her character, she said, was “eating bugs and frogs — raw frogs — in the woods.”
“I had to really skin a squirrel,” she said, according to People. “These things wildly challenged me to create some reality within this world that felt so foreign.”
PETA later clarified that no real animals were harmed, noting that “movie magic” was used to create the look. It seems the same magic was behind her Instagram post’s hairy armpits.
“While moviegoers may squirm in their seats at the sight of a ‘squirrel’ being skinned, Alexandre Aja’s use of movie magic instead of a thinking, feeling being in Never Let Go once again proves that technology is the key to modern, humane movie production,” read a statement released by Lauren Thomasson, PETA’s director of animals in film and television.
