“Because I can, goddamn.”
Therefore said last night when The Hollywood Reporter inquired why she chose a pure, lingerie-style La Perla development for the world premiere of the film The Union. The Julian Farino-directed action play casts the 57-year-old Oscar win as Roxanne, a part of a secret knowledge procedure who recruits Mike, a down-to-earth building contractor from New Jersey played by, to add a high-stakes mission. They happen to be higher class sweethearts, and that’s another reason Berry braved the red carpet in the brave clothing.
“I thought with the theme of this video being beloved meeting, it was time to bring this out”, she continued. “This is also where I’m at today”.
After a friendship that has lasted for more than 30 years, Berry finds herself with The Union by staring same Wahlberg for the first time in their respective professions. Although Berry claimed there had never been a chance for the two to collaborate before this job, it may come as a surprise. “Not at all”, she said. “When this happened, I thought, wow, this is the thing I didn’t know that I needed. I’ve known Mark for a lifetime and for a moment, and it was a wonderful knowledge. It was fun. He’s like a partner. In some ways, it felt like returning house. We have a lot in common, and we came to terms with all of them as inspiration for the film, which we hope will feature on the monitor.
The Union even stars Mike Colter, Jackie Earle Haley, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee, Dana Delany, Lorraine Bracco, Patch Darragh and J. K. Simmons. Along with his long-time partners Jeff Waxman and Stephen Levinson, Wahlberg even produced.
Wahlberg has stated that Berry was on board with the movie from the beginning and that he wanted it to balance the actions, humor, romance, and witty conversation found in Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn movies. “I got to do actions with laughter, and there’s crisis. You miss all the extras in a rom-com or straight-a-action film like John Wick, but this one did. I can’t recall the last time I did it in a movie with someone I like.”
Berry has a hectic quarter of 2024 coming. Her Alexandre Aja movie Not Let Come from Lionsgate recently moved up its launch date from Sept. 27 to Sept. 20. And she disclosed to THR last night that she is getting ready to star reverse Angelina Jolie in the Maude v Maude movie “next time” while also working on a directorial debut that will follow her Netflix MMA play Bruised.
As for Wahlberg, he had plenty of nice things to say about Berry during his pre-premiere responses from the period at Hollywood’s Iranian Theatre. He joked that his Union figure is” the Jersey James Bond” and had earned the nickname “double come hell yourself” before turning his attention to his longtime friend.
Wahlberg told the audience,” The reason this movie is going to be therefore successful is because of the science we have together and the skills she brings every day.” She also demands that everyone else have that level of commitment and hard labor. She truly sets the tone by delegating everyone. You’ll discover why my character had waited 25 years sitting in his grandmother’s house, in the table, in his community, working the same work, hoping that one day she would travel back”.
He continued: “Nobody else can pull that off but Halle Berry, so I can’t wait for you guys to see this movie. When you meet Halle Berry in people, you realize she is the most available, nice, kind, talented, intelligent, hard.”
