20th Century Fox

If there was any one actor who couldn't share equally in the critical and commercial success of Bryan Singer's "X-Men" from 2000, it was Halle Berry. The actress — despite appearing in several since-iconic movies like "Boomerang" or "Jungle Fever" long before Singer's blockbuster — received the most flak for playing Storm (aka Ororo Munroe) from hardcore fans of the Marvel comic (which received a nostalgic animated series two years ago). At the time, she was blamed for pretty much everything wrong with the character in the film, from her appearance to line delivery to her inauthentic demeanor, even though most of the issues stemmed from the writing and Singer's erratic and authoritarian behavior on set.

What fans know now about Singer (his insufferable temper tantrums during filming, crew negligence, and sexual misconduct allegations), it's hardly a surprise that he had a hand in why Storm turned out the way she did. In an interview with Fools Who Dream, Berry talked about how hard it was to work with him at times and that the two were often at each other's throats due to disagreements. David Hayter, who wrote "X-Men's" screenplay, defended Berry and explained how her performance was compromised due to a last-minute decision by Singer.

"A lot of people knock Halle Berry's performance, which is not fair. She did [a beautiful, subtle South African accent] through the entire film, and Bryan panicked at the last minute and said, "She shouldn't have an accent." He made her rerecord all of her dialogue with an American accent, except [for one] scene. And it feels like she's not in the movie. Psychologically, the audience hears her and they don't feel like she's in the same room with everyone else, and it really was unfair to Halle."

20th Century Fox

Storm may be the worst-written character in the first "X-Men" film, which is mainly noticeable because the rest of them are much more complex with profound emotional depth. But that's barely Berry's fault, even if her performance suffered the most because of it. Given the actress's constant frustration during filming with the director, it's quite understandable that she wasn't exactly in her ideal frame of mind to deliver her utmost best back then — funnily enough, a year later, she won an Oscar for her leading role in "Monster's Ball" and became the first (and only) Black woman to receive that honor.

As she recalled, "Bryan's not the easiest dude to work with. I would sometimes be very angry with him. I got into a few fights with him, said a few cuss words out of sheer frustration." Yet at the same time, Berry was equally frank about her missteps, saying, "When I work, I'm serious about that. And when that gets compromised, I get a little nutty. But I have a lot of compassion for people who are struggling with whatever they're struggling with, and Bryan struggles."

That might be little consolation for the fans who were dissatisfied and disappointed in how Munroe was portrayed in "X-Men," but it's always better to know the full picture before blaming one person for a result that was essentially a team effort. And perhaps Storm gets a more loyal and accurate depiction in the upcoming X-Men reboot, which already has its director.