Halle Berry attends a special screening of "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum" at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Image: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Halle Berry has withdrawn from portraying a transgender character in a film and said sorry for considering the part, after she faced an online backlash.
The 53-year-old star has said sorry for considering a trans character part, and admitted she now believes "the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories".
A statement posted on her Twitter account read: "Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man, and I'd like to apologize for those remarks.
"As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories.
"I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake.
"I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera. (sic)"
— Halle Berry (@halleberry) July 7, 2020
Last week, Halle revealed she was in line to portray a trans character in a film.
She said: "[It's] a character where the woman is a trans character, so she's a woman that transitioned into a man. She's a character in a project I love that I might be doing."
But the star, who said she wanted to take a "deep dive" into "that world", faced criticism after she misgendered the character on numerous occasions.
She said: "Who this woman was is so interesting to me, and that will probably be my next project."
Following Halle's withdrawal from the role, LGBTQI+ rights organisation GLAAD wrote on Twitter: "We are pleased that @halleberry listened to the concerns of transgender people and learned from them. Other powerful people should do the same. A good place to start is by watching @Disclosure_Doc to learn about trans representation in media. (sic)"
