Halle Berry Hails a New Brand of Hero

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Girls kick butt. That's the latest word from Oscar winner Halle Berry, who's made her mark in the new James Bond film "Die Another Day," and now says she could get used to doing the action-hero thing.

"Somebody asked me earlier, 'Did you ever think you'd grow up and be an action hero?'" Berry said, according to the Associated Press. "The answer was 'no.' When I was growing up, there were no women action heroes. It was all men."

That, Berry says, is changing, thanks to roles from Sigourney Weaver in "Alien" and Linda Hamilton in "The Terminator" during the 1980s -- on through a new generation of female butt-kickers like Sarah Michelle Gellar on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Jennifer Garner on "Alias."

Bond women have become particularly strong in the series' most recent releases. Besides Berry, who plays an American spy named Jinx opposite Pierce Brosnan's Bond, performances by Michelle Yeoh in "Tomorrow Never Dies" and Famke Janssen in 1995's "GoldenEye" pointed to a stronger female presence than the typically acquiescent Bond women.

Berry's performance has been so well received, MGM has already talked about creating a spin-off film based on her character. That seems to suit her just fine.

"I do think this woman action hero could be a fun sort of medium to try to work in," she told AP.