10 Ways Halle Berry Can Get Her Swag Back

Lame movies like this weekend's The Call just won't cut it anymore.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The year was 1999. Halle Berry—the charismatic and gifted actress who'd gotten her start in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and impressed critics in the 1995 drama Losing Isaiah—was hot on the heels of her award-winning, powerhouse performance as the titular character in the HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. With her career at its hottest point, Berry appeared unstoppable. She joined the impressive cast of the first-rate 2000 superhero film X-Men, won an Academy Award for her work in Monster's Ball, and became a Bond Girl with 2002's Die Another Day.

And then things changed. Gothika, Berry's 2003 supernatural thriller, got trounced by critics despite earning $141 million at the box office. Those same financial perks weren't present for the infamously horrible Catwoman, which, unfortunately, cost a reported $100 million and barely clawed its way to an $82 million intake. Since then, Berry's résumé has left much to be desired: Perfect Stranger, New Year's Eve, Dark Tide (yes, a killer shark movie), and January's Movie 43, a shoe-in for the inevitable "Worst Movies of 2013" lists.

Her latest film, the WWE-backed thriller The Call, looks like a strong contender to join Movie 43 on those lists. Can something be done before she stars in a Lifetime or, gasp, cuts rugs along with Pauly Shore on a future Dancing with the Stars season? Try these 10 Ways Halle Berry Can Get Her Swag Back.

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Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)

Give the low-rent genre movies a (long) break.

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Star in a well-made TV drama.

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Do whatever it takes to get tons of screen time in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

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Find projects that embrace self-deprecating humor.

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Land more risky projects like last year's Cloud Atlas.

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Surprise people by playing a ruthless, cold-hearted villain.

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Shut the game down with another showstopping photo shoot.

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Take some meetings with young, buzz-worthy directors.

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Try her hand at directing, a la Ben Affleck.

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Flex some behind-the-scenes muscles as a producer.

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