Halle Berry Takes Role By Storm

Halle Berry is back as Storm, but this time she is not just manipulating the weather.

In ""X2: X-Men United," she undergoes some evolutionary changes including a new hairstyle. Berry visits The Early Show on Monday to talk about her fun and powerful character.

"Storm is sort of the earth mother of the bunch," says Berry. "That's what I like to call her. Essentially that's what she is. And her specific mutation is she can control the weather with her mind. Her eyes turn white and she can make wind, rain, hail, thunder. And she's a pretty good fighter, although, she doesn't fight in the movies as much as she should."

Though she does not know if she will be in "X3," she said tongue-in-cheek that it might be a possibility if they let her fight more.

According to Berry, "X-2" really deals with bigotry. She told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith emotions were high on the set.

"'X-Men' deals with being unaccepted because of some physical characteristic, or as some people like to consider them, physical flaws," Berry said. "And everybody can relate to that. So many times throughout the shooting something will come up and a little insight, you know, lunch time dialogue - a heated discussion most of the time, too, because there's always a different side to the same argument."

Perhaps those dialogues will be on the DVD," Smith said. To that, Berry said," I hope not, for my sake, let us pray."

Berry took special pleasure in getting together with her "X-Men" cast mates, Patrick Stewart (Professor Xavier), Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), James Marsden (Cyclops), Anna Paquin (Rogue), Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (Mystique) and a few new mutants with good and evil traits.

Berry said, "Usually on the movie the first month is who are you, where are you from? We all just knew each other. So it's one big group hug. Hey, what have you been up to? And a lot of us worked together since then. We talk to each other. So it was great. We're really friends, all of us."

Next for Berry is the film "Gothika" and "Catwoman." Berry said, "It's going to be a lot different than I think any Catwoman we've ever seen in the past. We're going to take her into the 21st century."

About Halle Berry:

• Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 14, 1966.
• She attended Bedford (Ohio) High School (1984) and was a cheerleader, editor of the school paper and president of honor society. She also was elected prom queen; classmates accused her of stuffing the ballot box because the school population was predominantly Caucasian. A coin toss decided the results and Berry won.
• She attended Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland.
• In 1984, Berry was named winner of the Miss Teen All-American Pageant, representing the state of Ohio. Two years later, she became first runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant and worked as a model in Chicago. She won the dress competition in the Miss World pageant.
• In 1989, she made her TV debut as model Emily Franklin in ABC sitcom "Living Dolls."
• In 1991,she made her feature debut as a junkie in "Jungle Fever," directed by Spike Lee.
• In 1993, she was cast as title character in the CBS miniseries "Queen," based on Alex Haley's book. The following year, she was cast as Rosetta Stone in "The Flintstones;" a role that had first been offered to Sharon Stone.
• In 1995, she portrayed the Queen of Sheba opposite Jimmy Smits in "Solomon & Sheba." She co-starred opposite Jessica Lange in "Losing Isaiah;" she played a former drug addict trying to regain custody of her son.
• In 1996, she was signed by Revlon to model cosmetics in print and TV advertising.
• In 1998, she appeared opposite Warren Beatty in the political comedy "Bulworth." She also co-starred as one of the three wives of singer Frankie Lymon in "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"
• In 1999, she realized a dream project by co-producing and starring in the HBO biopic "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge." She won an Emmy Award portraying the singer-actress, the first black woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award
• In 2000, Berry needed 22 stitches to close wound on her forehead received in a Feb. 23 Los Angeles car accident; she later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of leaving the scene of an accident. The driver of other car involved filed a civil suit seeking damages. The lawsuit was resolved in an out of court settlement in May 2001
• In 2000, she was featured as Storm, a mutant with the power to produce adverse weather conditions, in the big screen version of the Marvel Comic "X-Men"
• And in 2001, she was cast as the widow of a death row inmate who falls in love with a former prison guard in "Monster's Ball." For this role, she won Best Actress Oscar, becoming the first black woman to win in that category