Halle Berry Opens Up About Her 'Abusive And Alcoholic' Father And A Deeply Disturbing Childhood

Hollywood star Halle Berry recently discussed her difficult childhood. During a visit on NPR's Fresh Air podcast, the Oscar winner discussed her painful experience with abusive relationships, similar to those shown in her latest film 'Bruised'. 

“There’s lots of abuse in my childhood. I grew up with an alcoholic father that was very abusive, both verbally, emotionally, physically.” she said. 

The actress previously explained how her father’s alcoholism “robbed us of the relationship we were meant to have” in an emotional Father’s Day post two years ago. 

Berry finally came to terms with the fact that her father abandoned her and her mother when she was only three years old. The actress reflected on her father's death in 2003 by saying, “When he died, I was given a gift of talking to a spiritual healer and someone that took me through some spiritual exercises to sort of heal my wound with my dad, largely because of the love and the guidance he didn’t receive as a child. He wasn’t born into the world an abusive, alcoholic man who was out of control. He became that by what he was and was not given; what he was exposed to and by what he wasn’t exposed to.”

“Going back another generation, they came from slavery, where my great-great-grandmother saw her daughters ripped away from her and the trauma that caused. When I keep tracing it back, you realize that this was just generational trauma. That my father was just trying to survive. He was trying to find himself, find his manhood. And he was doing the best he could, and while he failed me and my family miserably, he really was only working with the tools he had been given.” Berry added.

The 55-year-old Oscar winner both starred in and directed 'Bruised', which premiered on Netflix last month.