Halle Berry ‘heartbroken’ over death of ‘B.A.P.S.’ costar Natalie Desselle Reid

Halle Berry is mourning the death of her former co-star, Natalie Desselle Reid, remembering their friendship as “a connection that was simply unexplainable.”

Desselle Reid, who starred alongside Berry in the beloved 1997 comedy “B.A.P.S.,” died of colon cancer on Monday. She was 53.

Berry posted a clip on her verified Instagram account from the film showing her and Desselle Reid embracing while in character.

“I’m in total shock. completely heartbroken. gonna need a minute,” Berry’s caption read.

Written by actress Troy Byer and directed by Robert Townsend, the movie centers around two Georgia women who venture to Los Angeles to try and raise some money to open their own business.

Berry also posted a series of photos of Desselle Reid, writing in the caption that Townsend “facilitated our divine connection by uniting us in roles that would change our lives and impact our culture for generations to come.”

“I am forever grateful for that moment. Natalie was one of the most precious people I’ve ever known,” the caption read. “The second I met her our hearts were intertwined – we had a connection that was simply unexplainable, and she stayed her same sweet self all the years I knew her.”

Desselle Reid appeared in several other projects, including the 2011 Tyler Perry film “Madea’s Big Happy Family” and the TV sitcom “Eve.”

Berry wrote that Desselle Reid “could never dim her light and it was infectious.”

“Natalie represented actual black women, not what black women are perceived to be,” Berry wrote. “For that she was often underrated, passed over – deprived of the platform she truly deserved. But her light continues to shine through the people who grew up watching her, the people who knew her best and those of us who loved her.”