Halle Berry Crammed Three Years Of Martial Arts Training Into Six Months For ‘John Wick 3: Parabellum’
Halle Berry’s John Wick 3: Parabellum character Sofia — an assassin friend of Keanu Reeve’s Wick — was teased last year as a “woman on a mission,” and it seems that Berry was too, at least during her training for the role. The List reports that the 52-year-old actress crammed a whopping three years of martial arts training into six months for her character, which she said was the hardest that she has ever worked to get in shape for a movie.
But it sounds like it was worth it — Berry says that she’s at her mental and physical peak as a result.
“You can’t normally get to the level I got to in five months, it normally takes people two or three years and I got all this training under the guise of doing my work.”
The X-Men actress took to Instagram on numerous occasions to show off her tough workouts and says that she was happy to undergo the intense training that director Chad Stahelski put her through.
“… As an artist and as a woman who has something to say, social media has given me my own voice and my own outlet,” she said.
“I can show the world through my eyes but I can also choose what I do and don’t want to talk about.”
Keanu Reeves seeks an alliance with Halle Berry in this exclusive clip from John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum! https://t.co/8wWoZy04OD pic.twitter.com/o7ZuLhUXbt
— IGN (@IGN) April 30, 2019
Berry’s personal trainer, Peter Lee Thomas, revealed that her plan involved boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai, as well as strength training and conditioning. In terms of exercises and weights, he said Berry used barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, the pull-up bar, and did dips, pulls, and sprints, among other things. Thomas said that he has “never met anybody that works harder and trains harder.”
As The Inquisitr reported, Berry revealed to the press in April that she broke three ribs during the filming of the upcoming John Wick movie. She injured herself while practicing some of the movie’s intricate stunts, but despite the pain, she continued to work. The Cleveland native said she feared that Stahelski would want to replace her if she spent too much time healing, although he ended up pushing production back a bit to let her recuperate.
Berry also spoke about what it was like to work alongside Reeves for the first time, calling the experience “pretty amazing.” She said that it pushed her to work harder during the fight scenes so that she wouldn’t disappoint the iconic actor.
John Wick 3: Parabellum hits theatres May 15. Aside from Reeves and Berry, the film stars Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, Robin Lord Taylor, Mark Dacascos, and Asia Kate Dillion.
