2004’s Catwoman is not a beloved film. However, Halle Berry, who starred in that critically derided movie, says that Black Panther has Catwoman to thank for its success, though she was probably joking.
Berry was presenting the award for Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBTQ character) to Master of None‘s Lena Waithe at Thursday’s GLAAD Media Awards when she talked about Catwoman. “Each story builds on the next,” Berry said. “It’s like that old saying goes: behind every Black Panther is a great black Catwoman!”
“You know, I’ve gotten a really bad rap for this role,” she continued, “and I think Catwoman deserves another goddamn chance, don’t you?” The audience responded with cheers and applause. “I knew this room would understand,” she replied.
Berry’s remarks seem to be meant as tongue-in-cheek jokes, as she’s always been opening about the movie’s problems and failure. The actress even showed up to receive her Razzie Award for Worst Actress in 2005, where she called thanked Warner Bros. for putting her “in a piece of shit, god-awful movie.”
Catwoman is often considered one of the worst films of all time and only grossed $82 million on a budget of $100 million. Catwoman currently sits at 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie starred Halle Berry as Patience Phillips, not Selina Kyle.
Black Panther is still in the midst of a record-breaking run and has earned over $1.3 billion worldwide. Recently, the film overtook Titanic to become the third highest-grossing film ever in the United States.
Coming to digital and 4K UHD on May 8 and Blu-Ray and DVD on May 15, director Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan as N’Jadaka/Erik “Killmonger” Stevens, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Forest Whitaker as Zuri and Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue.