Thandie Newton

Thandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton, born 6 November 1972 is an English actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including Norbit, The Pursuit of Happyness; Run, Fat Boy, Run; Mission: Impossible II; Crash; RocknRolla; 2012; The Chronicles of Riddick and W.

Personal life

Newton married English writer/director/producer Ol Parker in 1998. The couple have two daughters: Ripley, born in 2000, and Nico, born in 2004. Her daughters were named after the character Ellen Ripley in the Alien films and the singer Nico.

In 2006, she 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 writes vividly about her childhood memories of growing up in Cornwall and the way in which the county's vibrant cultural heritage made it easy for her to "enrich every situation with layers of magic and meaning".

In 2008, Newton visited poverty-stricken Mali, describing it as a "humbling experience". She visited the village of Nampasso in the Ségou Region of the country.

Newton swapped her BMW X5 for a Toyota Prius after protesters bombarded the car with eggs at the gates of her daughters’ school. She then wrote to her celebrity friends, asking them to join her in switching to more environmentally sound cars.

Newton has suffered from bulimia.

Early life

Newton was born in London, the daughter of Nyasha, a Zimbabwean health-care worker and Nick Newton, a Cornish[citation needed] laboratory technician and artist. Her birthplace has been incorrectly reported to be Zambia in some biographies, but she has confirmed in interviews that she was born in London, during a two-week trip by her parents. The name "Thandiwe" means "beloved" in Ndebele, Zulu, Xhosa or Swazi, and "Thandie" is pronounced /ˈtændi/ tan-dee in English. According to Newton, her mother is a Zimbabwean Shona princess. Raised in London and Penzance, Cornwall. She studied dance at the world renowned Tring Park School for the Performing Arts (formally, Arts Educational School, Tring Park) and at sixteen, while recovering from a back injury, she successfully auditioned for her first film role. She then went on to study social anthropology at Downing College, Cambridge, from 1992 to 1995, where she achieved a 2:1.

Career

Newton made her film debut in Flirting (1991). While filming she struck up a friendship with, now lifelong friend, Nicole Kidman. She played the role of Brad Pitt's maid Yvette in Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994). She gained international recognition in the Merchant Ivory production of Jefferson in Paris as Sally Hemings, which led to her being cast in Jonathan Demme's Beloved (1998), in which she played the title character with co-stars Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. She played the female lead Nyah Hall in the film Mission: Impossible II. She was originally going to play Alex Munday in the film Charlie's Angels, but turned it down to appear in the low-budget film It Was an Accident. Her character ultimately went to Lucy Liu.

Between 2003 and 2005, Newton played Makemba "Kem" Likasu, the love interest, and later wife of Dr. John Carter on the American television series ER. She reprised the role once more for the series finale in 2009. In 2004 also appeared in The Chronicles of Riddick and Crash. In the latter, she played Christine Thayer, a wealthy black woman who, along with her husband, finds herself the target of a racist policeman (played by Matt Dillon), who sexually assaults Thayer but then later saves her life after he is the first on the scene at a car crash. Newton was honoured with a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006 for her role in Crash. She also played Chris Gardner's wife, Linda Gardner, in The Pursuit of Happyness.

In addition to her film and television credits she played the title role in a 2006 radio pantomime version of Cinderella.

In 2007, she starred with Eddie Murphy in the comedy Norbit as his love interest, and opposite Simon Pegg as his ex-girlfriend in the comedy Run Fat Boy Run.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes

1991 Flirting Thandiwe Adjewa

1991 Pirate Prince Becky Newton Television film

1993 The Young Americans Rachael Stevens

1994 Loaded Zita

1994 Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles Yvette

1995 Jefferson in Paris Sally Hemings

1995 The Journey of August King Annalees

1996 The Leading Man Hilary Rule

1997 Gridlock'd Barbara "Cookie" Cook

1997 In Your Dreams Clare Television film

1998 Besieged Shandurai Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Theatrical Actress

1998 Beloved Beloved Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture

2000 Mission: Impossible II Nyah Nordoff-Hall Nominated – Empire Award for Best British Actress

Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

2000 It Was an Accident Noreen Hurlock

2002 The Truth About Charlie Regina Lambert Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Theatrical Actress

Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture

2003 Shade Tiffany

2004 The Chronicles of Riddick Dame Vaako

2004 Crash Christine BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble Cast

Empire Award for Best Actress

London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Nominated – Black Movie Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated – Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast

Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

2006 The Interrogation of Leo and Lisa The Mona Lisa Short film

2006 American Dad! Makeva "Camp Refoogee"

2006 The Pursuit of Happyness Linda Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

2007 Norbit Kate

2007 Run Fatboy Run Libby

2008 RocknRolla Stella

2008 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Herself

2008 W. Condoleezza Rice

2003–2009 ER Makemba "Kem" Likasu

2009 2012 Laura Wilson

2010 Huge

2010 Vanishing on 7th Street Rosemary

2010 For Colored Girls Tangie Nominated - Black Reel Award (Best Actress)

Won - Black Reel Award (Best Ensemble)

2011 Retreat Kate post-production
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