When I started reading that Halle Berry was signed up to play the true life story of a teacher who runs for Congress with the help of her class, I wasn't interested to be honest. Then something struck me. Tierney Cahill, the teacher in question, is white.

If the penny still hasn't dropped Berry is black, and therefore Hollywood has chosen a black actress to play a true life character who was white. Usually they're busy turning black characters to white roles (most recently seen in World Trade Center - review).

Now I haven't really analysed Hollywood's race relations, but I do know that I've noticed far more stories where the black characters are portrayed by white actors and actresses than the other way around. Perhaps it's because more is made of the latter circumstance, I'm not sure. I certainly can't recall it the other way around.

The race issues aside, what it is saying is that Hale Berry has been picked for her acting talent and her appeal in the role to the audience, and after such films as Catwoman, that has to be another step in the positive direction for her.

The story for Class Act, according to Coming Soon:

Tierney Cahill, a teacher from Reno, Nev., who took a challenge from her sixth-grade students to run for Congress in the 2000 elections on the condition that they would help run her campaign. The single mother ultimately lost her bid to an incumbent, but she ended up winning 35% of the popular vote.

Apparently she ran for a second term too, but she was treated so badly during the election that she dropped out. An interesting role for Berry, and perhaps a significant one in Hollywood.