Mario Testino/VogueIt's been a while since Halle Berry has granted a magazine interview, but the actress -- who turns 44 on August 14 -- knew she couldn't pass up the opportunity to appear on the cover of Vogue's famed September issue, which hits newsstands on August 24.
Read Halle's Full Vogue Interview
Sporting a sleek bob, Berry explains she had avoided doing press simply because she was "burned out with having other people tell the story about me that they wanted to tell. I told my publicist, 'I'm not going to talk anymore. I'm just going to live my life and be who I am.'"
When asked what the biggest misperception is of her, the "Catwoman" star responds, "That I am this brooding, twisted, lovesick person who just can't get it right in life. Every story about me is so heavy and dramatic. That's not how I do life. But that's the impression people have, and that's what keeps getting reiterated. As if I'm still stuck in all the muck of the past. And I am so not."
Case in point: Berry is completely over her breakup with Gabriel Aubry, her model boyfriend of four years and, more importantly, her 2-year-old daughter Nahla's father.
Mario Testino/Vogue
"By the time [the news] hit the papers -- full of rumors and lies, with people having to make up problems between us -- Gabriel and I had long dealt with it," she sighs. "We were done. And we were on a good foot, and we had decided what we were going to do for Nahla, and we were able to say, 'This will pass.'"
See More Photos From Halle's Vogue Shoot
And it did. "Now we are back to how it was before: living apart, raising our daughter ... It's just that you realize you are not meant to go the distance with everybody," she says matter-of-factly. "We were meant to bring this amazing little person into the world. And I think that's why we came together. And because of that, we are going to be together, forever, all three of us. We are a family until we are not here anymore."
Although they're no longer a couple, Halle and Gabriel Aubry remain friendly for the sake of their daughter. - …
The actress poses in a Giorgio Armani black velvet dress and Lorraine Schwartz black jade-and-diamond cuff. - Mario …
While most people find it nearly impossible to remain friendly with their exes, Berry insists she and Aubry are on good terms. "We have always been friends, we're still friends, we love each other very much, and we both share the love of our lives. And we are both 100 percent committed to being the best parents we can be. And while it was not a love connection for us, he was absolutely the right person to have this child with because she is going to have an amazing father. And that was really important to me. We'll make sure we always do what is right for her and put her first. And she will see as she grows that we have a lot of love for each other."
Mario Testino/Vogue
Mario Testino/Vogue
Despite two failed marriages to former baseball player David Justice and musician Eric Benet, the Oscar winner remains optimistic when it comes to matters of the heart. "I'm not done with love, but I refuse to settle," she asserts. "I am a hopeless romantic. And I won't stop till I get it right. I don't think I'm unlike a lot of people," she continues. "I am just someone who is trying to find that mate, and I think it's a really hard thing to do. And I am not willing to stay somewhere where I am not really happy. And I am not willing to pretend I am for the kid's sake or so that I don't have to go through another public humiliation. It's about accepting who we really are, not who we want to be. As much as I have always wanted to be in this committed relationship and have the picket fence and grow old with the same person, I'm coming to terms with: Maybe that's just not who I am."
Plus, Berry's already found the love of her life in her adorable daughter Nahla. "If anything was missing, it was that."
Read more of Halle Berry's interview with Vogue, or pick up the September issue, on newsstands August 24.
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