Halle Berry's 'Moonfall' Movie Role Was Originally Imagined for a Man (Exclusive)

ET chats with the movie star about her latest role in 'Moonfall,' which lands in theaters on Feb. 4.

Moonfall could have looked a bit different. Halle Berry stars alongside Patrick Wilson and John Bradley in the space drama, where they attempt to save Earth after a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sets it on a collision course with our planet.

While chatting with ET's Kevin Frazier, Berry and director Roland Emmerich revealed that the actress' role was originally intended for a man.

"Your work wife could have been a man, Patrick," Berry told her co-star, who replied, "That's right. Hey, I'm fine with a man 'work wife.' It was awesome, come one! I've wanted to work with Halle for a long time, so I'll take it [in] whatever form it comes, even if we're in crazy space suits trying to act like we're floating. So it was a complete joy."

Emmerich further detailed how Berry's role was reimagined for her.

"It was kind of a relatively conscious decision at one point," he explained. "You know, it was more male-oriented and then we kind of said to ourselves, 'Why can't it be a woman?' And then you say, 'Who's kind of cool in a way [that works for this film?],' and then we come relatively fast to Halle Berry because she's a little bit older and she has done a lot of stuff. And she was the first person to be approached and immediately said, 'Yes.'"

The director said it was "a cool thing" to have the Oscar-winner attached to the project. As for Wilson, he admitted that with Berry as his co-star he gained "a UFC friend."

"I haven't seen, even though Bruised hadn't come out yet, we have very common interest in UFC and fighting," Wilson shared on Berry's directorial debut. "So she was my only compadre that I could commiserate with on Monday, like, 'Did you watch the fights over the weekend?' So that was, if nothing else, I found a new UFC friend."
 
"And we still have to go to one together," Berry chimed in.

When asked if they would want to go to real space if they were given the chance, Berry admitted she doesn't really have an interest.

"We went to space, don't tell me we didn't! We did," she said, before noting that her son will like this film. "This will be right up his alley. And I don't really have a real interest to go to space…Well my children are little and they depend on me, that's not really a risk that I would choose to take right now. I don't really have a desire to go to space, and I feel like I just went to space via this movie so for me it's a no."

Moonfall lands in theaters on Feb. 4.

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