After she won an Academy Award for Monster's Ball a couple of year's ago, Halle Maria Berry was on top of the world. At least, for ten days. But the newlywed's 2001 marriage to R&B singer/actor Eric Benet Jordan was soon in crisis, after he confirmed a revelation by Star Magazine that he was already cheating on her.

Of course, this news came as no surprise to those who had believed all the earlier tabloid rumors of a torrid romance between him and pop diva Mariah Carrey. That illicit liaison allegedly occurred on the set of their box-office flop, Glitter, a movie which had been shot in the Fall just before Eric and Halle blissfully exchanged their wedding vows.

In any case, earlier this year, Halle was finally forced to file for divorce due to her hubby's repeated philandering, especially after counseling for his admitted sex addiction reportedly failed to tame any beastly inclinations or to resurrect her trust in him. She says she suffered an emotional breakdown and now vows to never marry again, though she plans to have children by the age of 40.

To add insult to adultery, she's currently being sued by her ex for alimony and child support for his 12 year-old daughter, India. To be fair, Eric disagrees with her account of the facts, mounting a Bill Clinton-esque defense in which he says the extra-marital sexual escapades didn't involve conventional intercourse, you tell me what that means, and that Halle isn't all that hot in bed, anyway. This tactic strikes me as probably the worst possible approach to take since in the next breath he's also all but begging her via the press for a hundredth chance.

Besides the sting of separation, Halle has to contend with the "Marry me or else!" death threats of her very own stalker, a 35-year old mental patient named Greg Broussard. And then there's the latest Jadakiss gangsta rap CD which debuted earlier this month at #1 on the charts. In a song called "Why" the group impugns Ms. Berry's integrity as an actress and tries to taint her Academy Award by asking, "Why Halle have to let a white man pop her to get a Oscar?"

Given this current state of affairs, I was not surprised that her publicist requested that this interview be respectfully limited only to questions about her new film, Catwoman, where she plays a shy, sensitive artist transformed by a cosmetics accident into a super-human feline. Here's her conversation with Bean Soup Correspondent Kam Williams.

KW: What associations popped into your mind the moment you were offered the role of Catwoman?

HB: "Confident... sexy... powerful... Someone I wanted to play. And someone I wanted to be."

KW: But I think everyone already sees you as attractive, strong and self-assured.

HB: "I got a good act going on. [laughs] And people have bought it. That's lovely."

KW: Do you think of Catwoman as a female empowerment flick?

HB: I think, as women, we suffer because we're expected to behave a certain way in society. At least I've been taught, since I was knee-high to a bull frog to be somewhat subservient to men, to look for a man to rescue me and to be my Prince Charming. And that I was not complete unless I had a man. Catwoman represents the total opposite, that we are okay and complete and full, all by ourselves. that we can do what we want to do, when we want to do it, how we want to do it. We can be in charge of ourselves sexually, and use our sexuality in the ways that we want to, to serve our higher good. I wasn't taught that as a kid. I'm learning it now as an adult."

KW: How has that lesson helped you?

HB: "As I get older, I definitely feel more confident. As I go through each experience that life sends my way, I learn new lessons. I've become more confident and more assured of myself, and I start to care less about what everybody else thinks about who I am evolving into. I've found that great strength and power comes with just not caring what other people think, and realizing that what I think and feel is really what's important for me."

KW: Did you have pets as a child? Were you a cat person or a dog person?

HB: "I was always more of a dog person. I've had dogs my entire life. Never a cat."

KW: So, did you have to study the behavior of cats in preparing for this role?

HB: "I did, because I was more of a dog person. If I had to play a dog, I'd know just how to do it. Being around cats, and the psyche of cats was all new for me. So, I did spend a lot of hours studying cats. I worked on the walk and I tried to implement as many cat-like movements into my character as I possibly could. And I even ended up adopting a cat from the movie."

KW: Well, you certainly look very natural in the role, like the movements were almost second nature.

HB: "That's good. Hard work pays off, if you really put in the time. When something looks effortless, it's really because they spend so much time rehearsing."

KW: Catwoman's jumpsuit was certainly striking, but I was wondering whether anyone actually walks around on the street in a leather outfit like that?

HB: "Catwoman!"

KW: Did you feel special when you were in that outfit?

HB: "I felt really confident because people reacted to me differently. Everybody stood back. People were afraid to approach me. And when they did, the did so with the utmost respect, and kindness. They measured their words when I had the Catsuit on. that made me act and feel more empowered."

KW: Maybe you should continue to wear it, then.

HB: "I should." [giggles]