United Kingdom, Jan. 30 -- Halle Berry "refuses" to be ashamed of her age and feels "more valuable now than ever" as she approaches her 60th birthday.

The Hollywood actress - who will hit the milestone in August - has opened up about the difficulties facing women in Hollywood as they get older, but she's adamant she won't accept the premise that female stars are "no longer valuable" as the years go by.

She told The Times newspaper: "Why do we have to be ashamed of the most natural thing that happens to all of us? I'm not having the problem; society has the problem.

"They want to put me in a box that says, you are now a certain age; you're no longer as valuable as you used to be. I refuse - refuse - to accept it because I know I'm more ...