Los Angeles, Nov 16 (IANS): Oscar-winning star Halle Berry, who has gone behind the camera for the first time with 'Bruised', has revealed that directing the upcoming film was her toughest challenge.

Berry also plays a disgraced MMA fighter who decides to return for an unsanctioned bout in the movie, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Talking about it at a Hollywood screening, Berry told The Hollywood Reporter: "I don't know how I did it. I was on some adrenaline, I was on a high. I had to get this out of my body and so I had to do it, I just had to keep going day after day and I was energised by it, I was ignited by and I was refusing to be told 'no'."

She had been despairing that no filmmaker could match her vision for the project until a producer suggested that she should take the bold step of directing the film herself.

"All of the filmmakers that I spoke to, they didn't see the story that I saw in my head, they couldn't quite understand all the elements of this," she said.

The actress added: "I finally went home one night and I was pretty distraught because I was like, 'Oh god, I can't seem to get a filmmaker to make this story.' And then my dear friend, (producer) Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas said to me, 'Why don't you direct?' And I said, 'Me? I've never directed a movie before, this is too big of a role to play. I can't do that.'

"She said, 'You absolutely can, you love it like I've never seen anybody love anything.'"

She suggested that she is determined to continue directing projects.

Berry shared: "It's hard to say what will actually be in my future but I will say this – I know that women of colour have to keep telling their stories because we have a definitive point of view.

"And for so long, our stories have been told by men or white men or even white women. And I think it's really important that we continue to tell our own stories through our own lens and make them valuable."

She continued: "So for whether I'll do it or not, I hope so. I hope I'll be afforded another opportunity to get behind the camera and tell another story that I'm passionate about."