New York: When Halle Berry came across the role of Sofia in 'John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum', she accepted it to send an important message.
"It gave me a chance to do exactly what I wanted to do at this stage in my life, being a woman of color of a certain age," said the Academy Award winner. "It gave me a chance to show something different and to sort of kick ageism in the face and, you know, prove that we're not defined by that number that gets tagged to us at birth. That doesn't define us at all and we should not let it define us."
Berry, routinely regarded as one of the world's most beautiful women throughout her career, and a former PEOPLE's "Most Beautiful Woman" recipient, said she doesn't feel as old as print articles sometimes convey.
"Every time I see my name in print, it's got to have those two damn digits in front of it," said the 52-year-old actress. "And I just don't understand this. So I try not to think of it, but I'm reminded every day. So I thought, 'Okay, then. What are you going to do, Hal? Go with it! You know, talk about it, laugh about it and prove that it means nothing."
Another member of the 50-plus club is the lead in the film, Keanu Reeves. With a movie that seems to be nothing but nonstop action, how does he stay in shape?
"If you looked at my full calendar or if I wasn't working, I'm not very active. And you know, I kind of try and take care of a little bit. But I mean, it's the same, right? It's diet and exercise. Get enough sleep and try and do things that don't crush your soul."
The 'John Wick: Chapter 3' star also reflected on his other uber-successful franchise, 'The Matrix.' 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the original film.
"I think theoretically or what the film spoke about is super relevant—I think. Just in terms of technology and digitalization and creating worlds and what are we doing in power and information and data and all of that, I think 'The Matrix' was prescient and probably still ahead of us."
But why does 'Neo' believe 'The Matrix' has stood the test of time?
"Hey, you know, if something's good, it's good. It doesn't stop being good," he said with a laugh. "I mean, you know, (like a) chocolate chip cookie. I mean come on. It's a classic."
'John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum' arrives in U.S. theatres May 17.
With inputs from APTN
