As Hollywood continues to mourn the late Sidney Poitier, Halle Berry wrote a tribute to her idol for Variety.

As a biracial child, she said watching Poitier in the 1967 classic, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, about an interracial couple, changed her life. “For the first time in my childhood, I felt seen. Understood. Validated,” she wrote.

Halle will also never forget interviewing the iconic actor when she starred in the 1999 film, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. “I can’t imagine anyone other than you bringing my dear friend Dorothy to the screen,” he told her. “You embody the essence of who she was.” 

In 2002, when Berry became the first Black woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Monster’s Ball, Poitier was in the balcony.

“History will remember Sidney as a giant of the screen, a legendary actor and director, a performer whose enormous talents were eclipsed only by his kindness,” she continued. “I will forever see him as the angel in the balcony watching over all of us.”

In other news, West Side Story star Ariana DeBose tells Entertainment Tonight it’s an “overwhelming and wonderful” feeling to be nominated for a SAG Award for Female Actor in a Supporting Role. DeBose recently won a Golden Globe Award for the film, and now she’s focusing on hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend.

“I still have no idea what I am doing and I probably won’t know until we go live, so it will be a surprise to me and you,” she says.

Finally, Deadline reports that Jada Pinkett Smith will star in Redd Zone for Netflix. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of a single mother helping her sons and their high school football teammates heal after the murder of their best friend.