Halle Berry Took 3-Year Break from Dating After Olivier Martinez Split: It Was a 'Sabbatical to Understand Me'

The Oscar winner and Olivier Martinez were married for two years and broke up in 2015

Halle Berry took time to figure herself out after her 2015 split from ex-husband Olivier Martinez.

In Marie Claire's new cover story, the Oscar winner, 58, recalled taking a break from dating for about three years after she and Martinez, also 58, broke up, ending two years of marriage.

The Never Let Go actress called this period of time a “sabbatical to understand me,” during which she was reading, going to therapy, traveling to India and studying meditation.

“I created my career. I was intentional about that. I knew what I was going to do, and I did it,” she said. “But I had never been that intentional with my relationships. I was loosey goosey with that. You have to be clear with the universe [or] any old thing will find you.”

According to Marie Claire, Berry began writing "detailed lists of what she wanted and needed in a partner" during that time — and soon enough, her current relationship with boyfriend Van Hunt seemed to manifest itself.

“The minute I started to feel like I understood myself and what I had been doing wrong, Van’s brother, who I had known for many years, came to me and said, ‘You should meet my brother,' ” she added.

Related: Halle Berry Says Boyfriend Van Hunt Is ‘First Time’ She’s Been ‘Madly in Love Before I Had Sex’

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Berry and musician Hunt, 54, first connected in 2020 and began speaking only over the phone for four months due to the pandemic, as she told AARP Magazine back in January 2022. The couple made their relationship public in September 2020 and have been going strong ever since.

“It took me a minute to get it right,” Berry told Marie Claire of her relationships. “But the nature of the way this happened, I have a real belief that this is it. This is my person.”

Related: Kate Hudson ‘Took a Full Year Off’ Men to Stop Negative Dating ‘Patterns,’ Per Therapist’s Advice

Prior to Berry's marriage to Martinez, she was previously married to former MLB player David Justice and then to singer-songwriter Eric Benét. She also dated model Gabriel Aubry, with whom she shares daughter Nahla Ariela Aubry, 16, in the 2000s.

Berry and Martinez share son Maceo-Robert Martinez, 10; the former couple have been engaged in court over custody issues regarding their son in recent months.

"They have very different parenting styles," a source told PEOPLE of the former couple in August. "Co-parenting hasn't been easy. Still, they both love Maceo and he's amazing.... [He's a] very focused student. Halle very much tries to keep his life private."

Never Let Go is in theaters Sept. 20.

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