Halle Berry Called Working on Her Show ‘Extant’ the Hardest Work She’d Ever Done

Halle Berry is used to the hard work that comes with doing features like Bruised and Monster’s Ball . But she once felt nothing she did on the big screen compared to the grueling conditions she experienced on her television show Extant . Halle Berry starred in the television series ‘Extant’ Berry decided to experiment with television for a while when she was cast in the sci-fi series Extant .

The program was about a woman who returns home to her family after spending a year in space. Her character has to readjust to the changes her space-adventure caused, which was an intriguing premise for the Oscar-winner. “The minute I started to read it, I couldn’t put it down,” Berry said in a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly .

“Every step of the way, as I read that script, I thought, wow. This is different, it’s innovative, it’s got a strong female character. I want to do this.

This was a complicated woman, a complicated family. Who is a woman who goes away to space for a year and leaves her husband? Who is a woman who comes back pregnant and tries to handle it somehow on her own?” But the X-Men star was unpleasantly surprised by the amount of work she had to do for Extant . Her schedule for television was perhaps even stricter than in most of the actor’s movies.

“I mean, I’ve never worked so hard in my life last year. And I was nursing, my baby was three months old, so I was doing drive-by nursings every two hours and I was over my head, the amount of scenes we shoot in a day, the things I had to memorize. I really, last year, learned how to work that muscle of memorization and I got it down this year,” she said in a separate Entertainment Weekly interview.

What might’ve made working in television harder was the belief that it would’ve actually been an easier time going in. “But it was an awakening last year. [I] thought, ‘I’m going to go into TV, be at home with my family.

’ I didn’t see my family and I never worked harder in my life. So hats off to everybody who does television, because it’s a grind,” Berry said. Why was Halle Berry’s ‘Extant’ cancelled? Berry’s Extant didn’t have a long shelf life.

The sci-fi series only lasted for two seasons on CBS before the network pulled the plug. In the midst of its second season, the show experienced a steep decline. Extant went from drawing 9 million viewers in its pilot episode, to averaging around 4 million viewers towards the end of its run.

However, both the Monster’s Ball actor and CBS shared that the decline in ratings wasn’t the source for Extant ’s conclusion. They asserted that the series naturally ran its course. “I am so proud of what we accomplished on Extant ,” Berry said according to The Hollywood Reporter .

“This season seemed such a natural place to end Molly’s journey that I, along with CBS, felt it best served the story to leave it there. I’ve loved this experience working with such a talented cast and creative team. ‎It was my first foray into episodic television, and I’m excited to continue my relationship with CBS, producing more compelling stories through my 606 Films production banner.

” How did Halle Berry’s ‘Extant’ salary compare to her film earnings? As is the case with many actors, it wasn’t uncommon for Berry to earn millions of dollars for her movies. She reportedly made $14 million for Catwoman alone, demonstrating the actor’s growing star-power at the time. According to The Hollywood Reporter , her Extant salary wasn’t too big of a change from her usual pay.

She took home $150,000 an episode. Given the show aired 13 episodes each of its two seasons, this resulted in Berry earning $3. 4 million throughout the whole program.

.