Halle Berry has reflected on her historic win at the 2002 Academy Awards.
Twenty years ago, the now-55-year-old star famously won the Oscar statuette for Best Actress for her portrayal of Leticia Musgrove in the 2001 drama Monster Ball.
The moment went down in history, as Berry became the first Black star to win the Best Actress prize, beating out fellow nominees Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sissy Spacek, and Renée Zellweger.
And Berry used her acceptance speech to not only highlight the important moment, but also to praise Black actresses from the past and present.
Watch Berry's win and speech in the video below:"This moment is so much bigger than me," she said. "This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox."
Berry then famously pronounced that her win would open the door for future Black stars, saying:
"And it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened. Thank you. I'm so honored. I'm so honored. And I thank the Academy for choosing me to be the vessel for which His blessing might flow."
However, after 20 years, no Black star has won the Best Actress prize since.
Now, in an interview with the New York Times, Berry has spoken out about her disappointment over the fact that her win failed to blaze a trail as we all had hoped.
"It didn’t open the door," Berry said. "The fact that there’s no one standing next to me is heartbreaking."
The X-Men star has also spoken about the importance of having Sidney Poitier - the first Black person to win the Academy Award for Best Actor - in attendance on the night of her historic win.
"It was so special to have him there," Berry said. "He and Dorothy Dandridge allowed me to dream outside my own backyard and believe that a little Black kid from Cleveland could do this."
On the same night as Berry's 2002 win, Denzel Washington became one of four men to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
This year, he hopes to claim his second statuette for his role in The Tragedy of Macbeth.
