Halle Berry has never faced a greater challenge than the physical training she took on for her new action film John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
The actress portrays assassin Sofia in the movie and she spent several hours a week, sometimes working out twice a day, to get prepared for the physical role.
“I trained for six months straight,” she tells ET Online. “Firearms, fight, all of these martial arts, dog training. I had never been challenged in that way, so, hands down this was the hardest (experience).”
“I never worked so hard in my life, honestly, for a film role ever,” she adds to Extra, before praising co-star and leading man Keanu Reeves for his influence on her workout regimen for the project. “I watched Keanu raise the bar every day so I had no choice but to step up to his level and try to be on par with him the best I could.”
Halle worked with her personal trainer of five years Peter Lee Thomas extensively, as well as John Wick 3 fight trainer Heidi Moneymaker at least five days a week for the film.
She mastered pull-ups and jump rope, while perfecting intense fighting and military-style training, such as dragging a 65 pound sand bag behind her while sprinting upstairs.
“(The sand bag training) is one of several non-traditional ways of attacking the core,” Thomas tells USA Today. “It truly represents what military personnel fighters go through.”
And he has always been very impressed with Halle’s hard work: “This woman could walk through walls,” the fitness expert adds. “She’s a titan.”
Halle broke three ribs training for John Wick 3, but she is now fully recovered and back in the gym to prepare for her new action film Bruised, which will also mark her directorial debut.
“This woman is so hard-working and tough, I had to tell her to stop,” movie fight trainer Moneymaker recalls of Berry’s commitment. “She did go through a lot of strains and bruises, but even if she was dog-tired, if I said, ‘How do you feel?’ she’d say, ‘Great, let’s go again.'”
