Halle Berry raising awareness of mental illness
The actress plays Frankie Murdoch, a woman who suffers from multiple personality disorder in Frankie & Alice. She is keen to make people face the problem of mental illness head on, explaining it is much more prolific than people think. Halle has suffered from depression in the past, and says many don’t even understand what having that illness is like.
“We should talk about it, I hope this movie incites people to talk about the issue,” she explained. “I see homeless people on the street and I think people think they’re just derelicts or drug addicts, but many of them really suffer with real mental issues.”
In the movie, one of Frankie’s personalities is racist despite her being a black woman. That concept intrigued Halle greatly, and she is keen to see how the story is received by fans.
“A black woman who splits off into a white racist, right there that’s got to be a story worth telling,” she explained to Pop Tarts. “I really wanted to understand how that could happen, why that would happen and I wanted to see her journey of how she healed herself because our character actually triumphs.”