Halle Berry dubs historic win the ‘biggest heartbreak’ of her life

With nearly 18 years having flown by since Halle Berry marked the course of history with the first ever Oscar win for a black woman, the star took a trip down memory lane to reminisce upon olden times.

During her interview with Variety, Berry spoke out about her historical win and also touched on how it saddens her to know that she is the only historical black woman to ever win this honor.

The star began by saying,“I thought Cynthia [Erivo, the star of Harriet] was going to do it last year. I thought Ruth [Negga, nominated for 2016's Loving] had a really good shot at it, too. I thought there were women that rightfully, arguably, could have, should have. I hoped they would have, but why it hasn't gone that way, I don't have the answer."

With the way time has progressed since then, Berry is a bit conflicted over what the Oscar win now means. "It's one of my biggest heartbreaks. The morning after, I thought, ‘Wow, I was chosen to open a door.' And then, to have no one … I question, ‘Was that an important moment, or was it just an important moment for me?' I wanted to believe it was so much bigger than me. It felt so much bigger than me, mainly because I knew others should have been there before me and they weren't."

During the course of the interview, Berry also admitted that at the time, she had hoped for all of this to inspire a change, but "Just because I won an award doesn't mean that, magically, the next day, there was a place for me. I was just continuing to forge a way out of no way."