Key Takeaways
- Halle Berry says she regularly speaks with Zendaya, calls her “my little sweetheart,” and hopes they can work together someday.
- Berry praised Zendaya for “changing the game” after the younger star honored her at the 2026 Emmys with a silver Prada look and pixie cut inspired by Berry’s early-2000s style.
- Berry has previously named Zendaya as an actress she loves “with every fiber” of her being and said she wants to play her mother onscreen.
Halle Berry has been publicly rooting for Zendaya for years, but it turns out their relationship goes beyond one Hollywood star admiring another from afar. Berry says the two actually keep in touch—and she'd like to turn that friendship into an onscreen collaboration.
“I do speak to her, and I have to say she is the sweetest and my little sweetheart,” Berry told People while attending Create & Cultivate's On Her Own Terms event in Los Angeles on Sept. 20. “I would love to find something to do with her someday.”
The comments came days after Zendaya delivered a very visible tribute to Berry at the 2026 Emmy Awards. The 30-year-old arrived in a custom silver-sequined Prada look with a short pixie cut inspired by Berry's signature early-2000s style.
Stylist Law Roach later confirmed Berry was part of the inspiration, with comparisons quickly zeroing in on the actress' look at the 2002 premiere of Die Another Day.
Berry noticed, too. The Oscar winner reposted side-by-side photos of herself and Zendaya to Instagram Stories and later declared that Zendaya “murdered the night.”
Now, Berry says the homage carried extra weight because of their personal connection. “I love everything she's doing,” Berry said. “I think she is changing the game in so many ways for her generation. And I couldn't be more proud of someone or to know someone honored that she would pay homage to me that way. That was really sweet.”
The mutual admiration isn't new. Berry and Zendaya were photographed together at the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball in Los Angeles back in 2017, and Berry has made no secret of wanting to share the screen with the Euphoria star. During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Berry got considerably more specific about what that project could look like.
“There is an actress that I love with every fiber of my being. I love her,” Berry said. “I would love to play her mother. Zendaya.”
A mother-daughter role would also connect two performers whose careers represent different generations of Hollywood. Berry became the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress with her 2002 victory for Monster's Ball.
Zendaya, meanwhile, became the youngest person to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmys when she took the award for Euphoria in 2020, and later became the first Black woman to win that category twice.
Berry's latest comments arrive during a milestone year of her own. She turned 60 in August, celebrating with fiancé Van Hunt during an extended birthday getaway in Los Cabos.
