Halle Berry was ready for her daughter to leave home. Actually watching her do it has been different.
The actress said 18-year-old Nahla Ariela Aubry has moved to another state for college, making her the first of Berry’s two children to leave home. Speaking to People, Berry described the transition as “a little scary” even as she talked about how proud she is of her daughter.
Nahla is Berry’s daughter with former partner Gabriel Aubry. Berry said both parents are now hoping the decisions they made while raising her will help as she begins managing life away from them.
The move has changed things back in Berry’s house, too. Her 12-year-old son, Maceo-Robert Martinez, suddenly has his sister’s bed available, more say over dinner and, for the moment, the strange experience of feeling like an only child.
Berry Says Nahla Is Now Out in the World on Her Own
Berry discussed the change while attending the Create & Cultivate Festival in Los Angeles on Sept. 20. She said having her oldest child leave brought pride but also a new kind of worry.
Berry said she went to another state, leaving her and Aubry to hope their daughter makes good decisions and gets as much as possible from the experience. She described feeling “a little fear” alongside the pride of seeing her first child reach the milestone.
More than a year before the move, she was already talking publicly about being excited to watch Nahla discover what she wanted from adulthood, even while acknowledging that worrying would remain part of being her mother.
Maceo Is Getting Used to Life Without His Sister at Home
The adjustment is playing out differently for Maceo, whom Berry shares with ex-husband Olivier Martinez. Berry joked that he now gets to sleep in Nahla’s bed and “feels like an only child” with his older sister away at school.
There are smaller benefits, too. Dinner no longer requires the siblings to compromise over what they want to eat, giving Maceo more freedom to make those decisions himself. Berry said he still misses Nahla, however, and that the house feels “off” without her there.
Nahla Had Been Preparing for College Before She Turned 18
Halle Berry and ex Gabriel Aubry awkwardly reunite at daughter’s graduation years after heated child support battle https://t.co/322gMcc8CH pic.twitter.com/GVW0JG2GD7
— Page Six (@PageSix) June 6, 2026
The move had been approaching for more than a year. In June 2025, when Nahla was 17, Berry revealed that her daughter was attending a summer program at the college she hoped to attend after high school.
By October, that possibility had become more concrete. Berry announced Nahla’s early college acceptance with a photo of a celebratory cake bearing the message, “You did it Nahla!!” Nahla graduated from high school in Los Angeles this June, with both Berry and Aubry attending the ceremony.