“Film by day, fashion by night.”

A perfect summary of the Cannes Film Festival, especially coming from Halle Berry, who makes a long-awaited return to Cannes this year as a juror. The commitment is presenting an opportunity for a new fashion chapter for the Oscar winner, who teases that Cannes will show a different style direction. 

Berry is part of this year’s jury joining president Juliette Binoche and members Jeremy Strong, Payal Kapadia, Alba Rohrwacher, Leïla Slimani, Dieudo Hamadi, Hong Sangsoo and Carlos Reygadas. 

“I’m going to see the most amazing films, and that’s really what I’m most excited about this time. It’s such an honor to have been asked to be on the jury, and it’s something I take very seriously and I just can’t wait to sit and watch,” Berry says from New York the day ahead of the Met Gala. “There’s always amazing filmmakers that get accepted into the festival, all kinds of film, and so I’m really excited about that. And the fashion! Film by day, fashion by night. Those are my two favorites.”

For the long stretch of premieres and events, Berry will be working with a new stylist, Maryam Malakpour. They began working on looks the day Berry got the call to join the jury. 

“It’s a bit overwhelming because it is the biggest world stage, and so there is a sense of ‘we have to get this right. We have to find things befitting of this moment and what this festival means to the world.’ So it’s something that we’ve taken really seriously, and I’ve had a lot of fun doing it and wanting to make sure, because it is Cannes, that it stays chic and elevated and elegant. That’s what Cannes at least represents to me,” Berry says of her styling approach. “We’re very much going to keep it in that fashion forward and chic, elegant.”

This includes a mix of some designers she’s worn and loved for years, as well as brands new to her. Also new to the mix is Chopard, who, as an official partner of the festival, will be outfitting Berry in pieces throughout.

“There are certain pieces that I definitely know that I need to wear, and so we have to sort of fashion the clothing around wearing jewelry. Often I’m very minimalist and I don’t wear a lot of jewelry, so that’s also new for me,” Berry says. “So it’s about finding the balance, because this will be about wearing jewelry, all that glamour that Cannes is.”

This has already been a year of major red carpet moments for Berry. In March she dazzled in a shimmering silver Dolce & Gabbana gown at the Oscars, and on May 5 she attended only her second Met Gala, in a look by LaQuan Smith. Now she is setting her sights on Cannes.

“Your style just kind of evolves. Your taste evolves, your body changes. So you acclimate to what is true for you at that moment, where you are emotionally, where you are physically. All of those things go into what you choose and what you’re trying to express, which is why I’m saying this red carpet will probably be a different vibe for me than I’ve ever done before,” Berry says. “And that’s what I’m most excited about. I’m going in a different direction than I think I’ve gone before. You’ll see there’ll be some things that will be like, ‘huh, I never saw her in anything like that before.’ That’s the fun part.”

The festival is also a moment for Berry to step away from her usual wardrobe, set around being a working mom, and spend a little more time playing dress-up. 

“I’m a mother, so it’s juggling all of that. I can’t say outside of glamorous moments do I spend a lot of time thinking about [style] just because of being a mom and having a million things to do and running around. I can’t say that’s my everyday,” Berry says. “It’s a lot of those kinds of clothes I run around in, and picking up kids, dropping off kids. I am a soccer mom, proudly. So I’m going to soccer games. My daughter’s looking at colleges, so we’re traipsing around on college tours right now. I love going to Cannes for two weeks. I get to do just me for a couple weeks and I haven’t done that in a very long time.”

Earlier this year, Berry embarked on her “second act,” and launched her company “Respin Health,” a community-based platform for women going through menopause. 

“It’s been really wonderful to realize that I have a community of women that have been dying to talk about this, that have so many questions, so few answers. I really have a sense that what we’re building over [at Respin] is not only needed, but it’s like a lifeline for some people,” Berry says. “Some women are so alone, they’re so afraid, they get so much misinformation. They don’t know what to believe. I didn’t know what was happening to me, and I was very afraid. And I thought, ‘oh, the end is coming. This must be what happens to us.’ But when I got educated and I talked to the right doctors and I got on the right therapies and I got on hormones, everything changed and I realized, ‘no, this is actually the best time of my life.’”

When she’s not at work on Respin she is, of course, one of Hollywood’s most in-demand stars. Next February her movie “Crime 101” with Chris Hemsworth will be released; she’s just sold two television shows, and she’s soon to begin working on a film with Cameroonian director Ellie Foumbi. 

“They’re all stories and television shows that are uniquely different, but speak to where I am right now as a midlife woman,” Berry says. “I could only play these parts having lived life, so I couldn’t have done these parts a moment before right now, if I’m honest.”