English actress (born 1972)
Thandiwe Newton
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Thandie_Newton_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg/220px-Thandie_Newton_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg) |
Born
| Melanie Thandiwe Newton
(
1972-11-06
)
6 November 1972
(age 51)
|
---|
Other names
| Thandie Newton
|
---|
Education
| Downing College, Cambridge
(
BA
)
|
---|
Occupation
| Actress
|
---|
Years active
| 1989?present
|
---|
Spouse
|
(
m.
1998;
sep.
2022)
|
---|
Children
| 3, including
Nico Parker
and
Ripley Parker
|
---|
Melanie Thandiwe Newton
OBE
(
TAN
-dee-way
;
[1]
born 6 November 1972), formerly credited as
Thandie Newton
(
TAN
-dee
), is a British actress. She has received various awards, including a
Primetime Emmy Award
, and a
BAFTA Award
, in addition to nominations for two
Golden Globe Awards
. She was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE) in the
2019 New Year Honours
for services to film and charity.
[2]
Newton is known for starring roles such as the title character in
Beloved
(1998), Nyah Nordoff-Hall in
Mission: Impossible 2
(2000), Tiffany in
Shade
(2003), Dame Vaako in
The Chronicles of Riddick
(2004), Christine in
Crash
(2004), Linda in
The Pursuit of Happyness
(2006), Libby in
Run Fatboy Run
(2007), Stella in
RocknRolla
(2008),
Condoleezza Rice
in
W.
(2008), Laura Wilson in
2012
(2009), Tangie Adrose in
For Colored Girls
(2010),
Maeve Millay
in
Westworld
(2016?2022), Roz Huntley in
Line of Duty
(2017), and Val in
Solo: A Star Wars Story
(2018).
Early life
[
edit
]
Melanie Thandiwe Newton was born in the
Westminster
area of
London
on 6 November 1972, the daughter of
Zimbabwean
mother Nyasha Jombe and English father Nick Newton.
[3]
[4]
Her mother was a member of a
Shona
chieftaincy family
,
[3]
[4]
while her father worked as a laboratory technician and artist.
[5]
Her parents lived in
Zambia
, and she was born whilst they were in England to visit relatives; they then returned to Zambia, where her younger brother was later born.
[6]
[7]
This has led her birthplace to be incorrectly reported as Zambia in some sources,
[8]
but she has confirmed in interviews that she was born in Westminster.
[9]
[10]
"Thandiwe" is a name of
Nguni
origin and means "beloved".
[11]
[12]
When Newton was three years old, she returned with her family to England, where they settled in
Penzance
so her father could help run his family's antique business.
[6]
She attended St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School.
[13]
She later said of her upbringing, "From about the age of five, I was aware that I didn't fit. I was the black
atheist
kid in the all-white Catholic school run by nuns. I was an anomaly."
[14]
She began dropping the letter "w" from her middle name, making it "Thandie" (pronounced
TAN
-dee
).
[3]
[4]
She studied dance at the
Tring Park School for the Performing Arts
, then studied at
Downing College, Cambridge
, where she obtained a degree in
social anthropology
in 1995.
[15]
Career
[
edit
]
Newton in 2007
Newton made her film debut in the
coming of age
comedy-drama
Flirting
(1991), filmed in 1989 but shelved for two years. She was credited as "Thandie Newton" and subsequently continued to use this name professionally.
[3]
[10]
She then portrayed the slave "Yvette" in the
Brad Pitt
and
Tom Cruise
film
Interview with the Vampire
(1994). Newton appeared in the
Merchant Ivory
production of
Jefferson in Paris
as
Sally Hemings
. Next, she played in
Jonathan Demme
's drama
Beloved
(1998), based on
Toni Morrison
's novel, in which she played the title character, the ghost of a young slave girl whose mother kills her to save her from slavery. The film also starred
Oprah Winfrey
and
Danny Glover
. Newton starred as Nyah Nordoff-Hall, again opposite Cruise, in
Mission: Impossible 2
. Her next role was in the low-budget film
It Was an Accident
, written by her husband, screenwriter
Ol Parker
.
[16]
Newton in 2010
Between 2003 and 2005, Newton played Makemba "Kem" Likasu, love interest of
John Carter
on the American television series
ER
. She reprised the role for the series finale in 2009. In 2004, she also appeared in
The Chronicles of Riddick
and
Crash
. She won a
BAFTA
award for
Best Supporting Actress
in 2006 for her role in
Crash
. She played Chris Gardner's wife, Linda Gardner, in
The Pursuit of Happyness
. Also in 2006, Newton performed on radio in a
pantomime
version of
Cinderella
.
[17]
In 2007, Newton co-starred with
Eddie Murphy
as his love interest in the comedy
Norbit
. She played opposite
Simon Pegg
as his ex-girlfriend in the 2007 comedy
Run Fatboy Run
. She next portrayed
Condoleezza Rice
, US
National Security Advisor
and then Secretary of State in
W.
,
Oliver Stone
's biography of President
George W. Bush
. The film was released in October 2008.
Newton was an introducer at
Wembley Stadium
on 7 July 2007, for the
UK leg
of
Live Earth
. She was due to introduce former US Vice President
Al Gore
to the concert, but he was delayed, leaving Newton to tell jokes in an attempt to entertain the audience.
[18]
Newton next portrayed fictional US
First Daughter
Laura Wilson in
2012
, a disaster film directed by
Roland Emmerich
and released 13 November 2009.
In July 2011, Newton delivered a
TED talk
on "Embracing otherness, embracing myself." She discussed finding her "otherness" as a child growing up in two distinct cultures, and as an actress playing many different selves.
[19]
In 2012, she starred alongside
Tyler Perry
in the romantic drama film
Good Deeds
. She was also in Perry's movie
For Colored Girls
(2010), adapted from
Ntozake Shange
's 1975 original choreopoem
for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf
. In 2013, Newton starred in
Rogue
, the first original drama series for
DirecTV
's
Audience Network
.
[20]
She left
Rogue
during the third season. In 2015, she starred in the US miniseries
The Slap
.
From 2016 to 2022, Newton portrayed Maeve Millay in
HBO
science fiction drama series
Westworld
, for which she garnered universal acclaim. She received several accolades, including a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
(out of three nominations), two
Critics’ Choice Awards
, and nominations for a
Golden Globe
and
Screen Actors Guild Award
. James White for
Empire
lauded Newton's performance, saying: "Thandie Newton is killing these emotional moments, giving Maeve a twitchy, panicked air without ever overplaying it and really helping us to feel for her."
[21]
William Goodman for
Complex
wrote: "Westworld becomes the Thandie Newton show, which benefits everyone involved; she’s consistently electric, and the series gives her no shortage of fun things to do."
[22]
In 2017, she served as a narrator for the documentary entitled
Bill Cosby
: Fall of an American Icon
, an expose on the sexual assault charges laid against Cosby, which aired on
BBC One
. In the same year, Newton played DCI Roseanne "Roz" Huntley in the fourth season of BBC One's
Line of Duty
, a role for which she received a
BAFTA
TV Award nomination for Best Actress.
Newton appeared as Val in the
Star Wars
film
Solo: A Star Wars Story
, which was released in May 2018 to generally favorable reviews but bombed at the box office with a worldwide gross of $393.2 million.
[23]
Newton became the first black woman to have a major non-alien role in a
Star Wars
film; however, she expressed disappointment in the role as the fate of the character was changed during filming and found it to be a mistake for the franchise in the sense of what it meant for black women in the franchise.
[24]
Additionally, Scott Mendelson for
Forbes
felt that Newton was "underutilized" and
David Edelstein
for
Vulture
wrote in praise of her performance: "The only thing wrong with Thandie Newton’s performance is that there’s not enough of it."
[25]
[26]
In a 2021 interview, Newton announced that she would be changing her first name back to its original form "Thandiwe",
[27]
and would be credited as such beginning with
Reminiscence
(2021). She also said that she would attempt to have corrections applied to her past performance credits.
[3]
In 2022, Newton played the lead role of Sandra Guidry in the thriller
God’s Country
which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival
. For her performance in the film, she received a nomination for
Outstanding Lead Performance
at the
Gotham Awards
.
[28]
Charity work
[
edit
]
In 2006, Newton contributed a foreword to
We Wish: Hopes and Dreams of Cornwall's Children
, a book of children's writing published in aid of the
NSPCC
. In it, she wrote about her childhood memories of growing up in Cornwall, and the way in which its cultural heritage made it easy for her to "enrich every situation with layers of magic and meaning".
[29]
In 2008, Newton visited the poverty-stricken village of
Nampasso
in Mali, describing it as a "humbling experience".
[30]
In 2013, Newton led the
One Billion Rising
flash mob in London for justice, gender equality, and an end to violence.
[31]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Newton married English filmmaker
Ol Parker
in 1998. They separated in 2022.
[32]
[33]
They have two daughters,
Ripley
(born 2000) and
Nico
(born 2004), and a son, Booker (born 2014). All three were
home births
.
[34]
Nico is also an actress. Newton has been close friends with
Nicole Kidman
since 1989.
[35]
Newton is currently in a relationship with American musician Elijah Dias, better known by his
stage name
Lonr, who is 24 years younger than she.
[36]
[37]
Newton is a
vegan
and was named
PETA
's "Sexiest Vegan of 2014" in the UK.
[38]
In 2007, after
Greenpeace
members put a sticker that said "this gas-guzzling 4x4 is causing climate change" on the
BMW X5
she had only recently purchased, she sold the car and bought a
Toyota Prius
.
[39]
She has expressed an affinity for
Buddhism
.
[40]
[41]
David Schwimmer
, who directed
Run Fatboy Run
, called her "the queen of
practical jokes
" for her behaviour on film sets.
[42]
In 2016, Newton stated she had been the victim of a director who repeatedly showed his friends a video of her in a sexually graphic audition she had made as a teenager.
[43]
[44]
She cited this experience as part of why she had taken the
Westworld
role, which involved substantial nudity and reflected experiences of survivors of sexual abuse while also asking moral questions about what it means to be human.
[44]
In 2018, she said she was disappointed not to have been invited to participate in
Time's Up
, a movement against sexual harassment, considering that she had been "ostracised" for having spoken out about alleged sexual abuse by a director.
[45]
Newton was ranked one of the best-dressed women in 2018 by fashion website
Net-a-Porter
.
[46]
Later that year, she was named as one of the 100 most influential black British people in the
Powerlist
.
[47]
In 2020, Newton was one of a number of celebrities and MPs who signed a letter opposing the deportation of 50 convicted offenders from the UK to Jamaica.
[48]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Music video
[
edit
]
Year
|
Artist
|
Song
|
Ref.
|
2017
|
Jay-Z
featuring
Beyonce
|
"Family Feud"
|
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Gonda, Violet (24 June 2021).
"The Hot Seat with Violet Gonda. Thandiwe Newton"
.
YouTube
. Retrieved
8 November
2022
.
- ^
"New Year Honours List 2019"
.
The London Gazette
. 29 December 2018.
Archived
from the original on 30 December 2018
. Retrieved
28 December
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Evans, Diana (4 April 2021).
"
"I'm Taking Back What's Mine": The Many Lives of Thandiwe Newton"
.
Vogue
. Retrieved
2 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Thandie Newton"
.
aalbc.com
. Retrieved
9 March
2021
.
- ^
Barton, Laura;
"'I was so incredibly self-conscious'"
Archived
4 September 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
The Guardian
, 28 May 2008.
- ^
a
b
A Taste of My Life
, Series 4 (BBC Two, 4 June 2008) Thandie Newton - Quote: Nigel Slater (host): "You were born in London but you didn't stay here for long did you? You went down to
Cornwall
?" Thandie Newton (answers): "'Actually I don't know how my mum and dad managed to do this. But we lived in Zambia, and my mum was pregnant with me. And I was born on a two-week trip back to London, and then we went back to Zambia and my brother was born there. And we ended up coming to England finally when I was three years old. So my dad could help out with the family antique business."
- ^
Lewis, Sian;
"Thandie Newton: 'Condi was my hardest role ever'"
Archived
29 April 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
Independent.co.uk
, 31 October 2008.
- ^
"Thandie Newton Biography"
Archived
21 January 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
Yahoo! Movies
.
- ^
Williams, Kam;
"Sweet as Thandie"
Archived
20 July 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
KamWilliams.com
, 24 March 2008.
- ^
a
b
Gonda, Violet (1 July 2021).
"Thandiwe Newton on reclaiming her identity"
. Retrieved
2 October
2022
.
- ^
Simelane Kalumba, Phumzile (2018).
Jublani Means Rejoice: A Dictionary of South African Names
(2nd ed.). Modjaji. p. 289.
ISBN
978-1-928215-49-3
.
- ^
Campbell, Lucy (5 April 2021).
"Actor Thandiwe Newton reclaims original spelling of her name"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
5 April
2021
.
Thandiwe means 'beloved' in the Zulu, Ndebele and Xhosa languages. [...] This article was amended on 5 April 2021 to remove an incorrect phrase saying 'Thandiwe means "beloved" in the Shona language'.
- ^
Hards, Shannon (27 February 2019).
"Thandie Newton was denied school photo in Cornwall because her hair was in corn-rows"
.
Cornwalllive.com
. Retrieved
9 April
2021
.
- ^
"Thandie Newton: Embracing otherness, embracing myself"
.
Ted.com
. July 2011.
Archived
from the original on 13 December 2012
. Retrieved
11 May
2013
.
- ^
"Downing alumna Thandie Newton wins BAFTA award"
.
Dow.Cam.ac.uk
. Downing College. Archived from
the original
on 22 January 2010.
- ^
Thandie's Mission,
Evening Standard
, she also starred in the
Guy Ritchie
film
Rock n' Rolla
as a michievous accountant. 22 July 2005. Quote: "...but turned down the
Lucy Liu
role in
Charlie's Angels
in favour of making
It Was An Accident
, a minor film by her scriptwriter husband
Ol Parker
."
- ^
"Doctor Who poised for radio panto"
Archived
7 December 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
News.BBC.co.uk
, 15 December 2006.
- ^
Needham, Alex;
"Live Earth: The live blog, part 2"
Archived
24 October 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
The Guardian
, 7 July 2007.
- ^
"Thandie Newton: Embracing otherness, embracing myself"
.
TED
. 15 July 2011
. Retrieved
20 June
2021
.
- ^
"Rogue to Debut on AUDIENCE Network in April"
.
directv.com
. 7 January 2013.
Archived
from the original on 15 May 2013
. Retrieved
11 May
2013
.
- ^
White, James (23 October 2016).
"Westworld: Season 1, Episode 4 ? Dissonance Theory Review"
.
Empire
. Retrieved
12 February
2023
.
- ^
Goodman, William (24 June 2022).
"
'Westworld' Bounces Back With Season 4"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
12 February
2023
.
- ^
"
Solo: A Star Wars Story
"
.
The Numbers
. Nash Information Services, LLC.
Archived
from the original on 24 February 2021
. Retrieved
13 February
2023
.
- ^
Feldberg, Isaac (25 August 2021).
"Thandiwe Newton Speaks Out on Her Star Wars Death: 'A Big Mistake'
"
.
Inverse
. Retrieved
13 February
2023
.
- ^
Mendelson, Scott (15 May 2018).
"
'Solo' Review: A 'Star Wars' Story That Plays Like An 'Indiana Jones' Movie"
.
Forbes
. Retrieved
13 February
2023
.
- ^
Edelstein, David (24 May 2018).
"Solo: A Star Wars Story Hits All Its Marks ? Except for the Most Important One"
.
Vulture
.
Vox Media
. Retrieved
13 February
2023
.
- ^
"Thandie Newton reverts to original spelling of first name, Thandiwe"
.
BBC News
. 5 April 2021
. Retrieved
2 September
2022
.
- ^
Mandinach, Zach (25 October 2022).
"2022 Gotham Awards Nominations Full List"
.
TheGotham.org
.
The Gotham Film & Media Institute
. Retrieved
13 February
2023
.
- ^
"We Wish ? Hopes and dreams of Cornwall's children"
. WeWish.org.uk. 30 November 2006. Archived from
the original
on 6 December 2006.
- ^
"Thandie Newton humbled by Mali trip"
. Contact Music. 4 February 2009.
Archived
from the original on 9 June 2008
. Retrieved
25 February
2009
.
- ^
"Thandie Newton joins women's protest"
. CNN.
Archived
from the original on 15 February 2013
. Retrieved
15 February
2013
.
- ^
Todisco, Eric (20 April 2022).
"Thandiwe Newton's Husband Spotted Without Wedding Ring Amidst Split Rumors: Photo"
.
Hollywood Life
. Retrieved
23 January
2023
.
- ^
Zeller, Terry (30 July 2022).
"Thandiwe Newton & Ex Ol Parker Reunite In 1st Photos Since Split & Her PDA With BF Lonr"
.
Hollywood Life
. Retrieved
23 January
2023
.
- ^
Eggenberger, Nicole (5 March 2014).
"Thandie Newton welcomes baby boy Booker Jombe Parker in home birth"
.
Us Weekly
.
Archived
from the original on 5 March 2014
. Retrieved
5 March
2014
.
- ^
"Thandie Newton is Finally Ready to Speak Her Mind"
. 7 July 2020.
- ^
Zeller, Terry (24 April 2022).
"Thandiwe Newton, 49, Seen Kissing Musician Lonr, 25, Amid Split Rumors From Husband: Photos"
.
Hollywood Life
. Retrieved
23 January
2023
.
- ^
Zeller, Terry (27 May 2022).
"Thandiwe Newton, 49, Enjoys Sushi Date With BF Lonr, 25, After Split From Husband"
.
Hollywood Life
. Retrieved
23 January
2023
.
- ^
"Thandie Newton named PETA's sexiest vegan"
.
Toronto Sun
. 23 December 2014.
Archived
from the original on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
19 March
2015
.
- ^
McLean, Craig (7 January 2007).
"Telling it like it is"
.
The Scotsman
. Archived from
the original
on 12 October 2007.
- ^
"Buddha Buzz: Mindfulness and Being a Buddhist Woman"
.
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
. Archived from
the original
on 17 June 2012
. Retrieved
15 June
2012
.
- ^
"A Body in Motion: The
For Colored Girls
Interview with Kam Williams"
. Pittsburgh Urban Media. Archived from
the original
on 14 October 2013
. Retrieved
15 June
2012
.
- ^
"Actress Newton admits to pranks"
.
BBC News Online
. 4 September 2007.
Archived
from the original on 3 February 2011
. Retrieved
13 April
2009
.
- ^
"Thandie Newton on Why She's Drawn to Tough Roles"
.
W magazine
. 5 July 2016. Archived from
the original
on 9 December 2016
. Retrieved
28 October
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Nededog, Jethro (2 October 2016).
"
Westworld
star Thandie Newton defends her decision to play a brothel madam"
.
Business Insider
.
Archived
from the original on 4 November 2016
. Retrieved
9 July
2017
.
- ^
Oppenheim, Maya (25 April 2018).
"Thandie Newton explains why she thinks the Time's Up movement didn't want her involved"
.
The Independent
.
Archived
from the original on 3 January 2019
. Retrieved
2 January
2019
.
- ^
"Best Dressed 2018"
.
Net a
. Archived from
the original
on 30 December 2018
. Retrieved
29 December
2018
.
- ^
Hicks, Amber (23 October 2018).
"List of 100 most influential black people includes Meghan Markle for first time"
.
mirror
.
Archived
from the original on 31 May 2019
. Retrieved
20 April
2020
.
- ^
Taylor, Diane (27 November 2020).
"Black public figures urge airlines not to carry out Home Office deportation"
.
TheGuardian.com
.
External links
[
edit
]
Awards for Thandiwe Newton
|
---|
|
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1959?1975
| |
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1976?2000
| |
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2001?present
| |
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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