The Academy Award–winning actors got tight

While filming their new movie, Maude v Maude, Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie quickly found something to bond over: their divorces.

In a recent interview with Variety, Berry disclosed that she and her costar were able to forge a friendship over the shared experience of ending romantic relationships.

“We’ve been talking a lot about divorces and exes,” Berry said. “We bonded, let’s say that.”

Berry divorced her husband of three years, Olivier Martinez, in 2016, while Jolie split from Brad Pitt in 2019, after five years of marriage.

But the women’s connection wasn’t immediate. According to the Moonfall actor, she and Jolie didn’t initially click.

“We had a rocky start and I think that is going to serve us well in our screen time together,” Berry said.

When pressed, she wouldn’t reveal why she and Jolie got off on the wrong foot, but she teased that the story is a “good one.” In fact, she believes it only helped cement their friendship. “[Angelina] is formidable,” she added.

Onscreen, the two will battle each other “physically and intellectually” in Maude v Maude, a film Berry describes as a mix of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Mission: Impossible. Both Academy Award–winning actors are not only starring in the film, but also producing it.

Berry signed on as a producer and director with Range Media Partners in January 2023. She made her directorial debut with Bruised in 2020. Meanwhile, Jolie founded her own production company, Jolie Pas Productions, in 2014.