Halle Berry feared she had bone cancer during her directorial debut.

The Oscar-winning star plays a disgraced MMA fighter in the sports film 'Bruised', and Halle broke two ribs during the movie's big fight scene - but she initially mistook the injury for something more serious.

Halle, 54 - who went from feeling no pain to suddenly not being able to breathe - explained: ''I thought I had bone cancer.

''I thought it was early osteoporosis. I couldn't understand why this was happening to me when I was really physically fit.''

Halle linked the incident to her diabetes.

She said: ''I have a propensity to fracture bones faster than other people.''

Despite suffering the injury, Halle was determined to finish the project without taking a break.

The acclaimed actress felt she'd ''come too far'' to put the shoot on hold while her ribs healed.

She told Variety: ''I didn't want to stop because I had prepared for so long.

''We had rehearsed; we were ready. So my mind, my director's mind, was just - keep going. And I compartmentalised that, and I just kept going: 'I'm not going to stop. I've come too far. I'm going to act as if this isn't hurting. I'm going to will myself through it.' And so we did.''

The Hollywood star also admitted to being fearful about her health amid the coronavirus pandemic due to her diabetes.

Speaking about her health concerns, Halle - who has Nahla, 12, and Maceo, six - confessed: ''I do feel at risk. I'm very strict about quarantining and who is in my bubble.

''We have a whole section of the house: when you go out in the world and buy something, it has to sit in this purgatory.''