Thandie Newton (born November 6, 1972, pronounced "Tandy") is a BAFTA award-winning British actress.

She was born in Zambia, to an English father and a Zimbabwean mother. She was raised in Zambia and Cornwall, England, and educated at Downing College, University of Cambridge.

Newton made her film début in Flirting (1991).

She had a small role as the Creole slave Yvette in Interview with the Vampire alongside Tom Cruise.

She gained international recognition opposite Nick Nolte in the Merchant Ivory Film Jefferson in Paris as Sally Hemmings, which led to her being cast in Jonathan Demme's Beloved (1998) alongside Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey, in which she played the title character.

She played the female lead, Nyah Hall, in the film Impossible II with Tom Cruise. When this film went over schedule, she had to pull out of the film Charlie's Angels and Newton's character ultimately went to Lucy Liu.

Newton recently played Kem, the love interest of Dr. John Carter, on the American television series ER.

She also appeared in The Chronicles of Riddick and Crash. Her performance in Crash, as an upper middle-class black woman forced to assess her racial attitudes after being molested by a white racist police officer (played by Matt Dillon), was honoured with a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006. Crash also won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2005.

Newton married writer and director Ol Parker (not Oliver Parker) in 1998. The couple have two daughters, Ripley, born in 2000, and Nico, born in 2004.

Filmography

• Pursuit of Happyness (2006) (filming) - Linda
• Crash (2004) - Christine
• The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) - Dame Vaako
• Shade (2003) - Tiffany
• The Truth About Charlie (2002, by Jonathan Demme) - Regina Lambert
• It Was an Accident (2000, by Ol Parker) - Noreen Hurlock
• Impossible II (2000) - Nyah Nordoff-Hall
• Besieged (1998, by Bernardo Bertolucci) - Shandurai
• Beloved (1998, by Jonathan Demme) - Beloved
• In Your Dreams (1997) (TV) - Clare
• Gridlock'd (1997) - Barbara 'Cookie' Cook
• The Leading Man (1996) - Hilary Rule
• The Journey of August King (1995) - Annalees
• Jefferson in Paris (1995, by James Ivory) - Sally Hemings
• Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) - Yvette
• Loaded (1994) - Zita
• The Young Americans (1993) - Rachael Stevens
• Pirate Prince (1991) (TV) - Becky Newton
• Flirting (1991, by John Duigan) - Thandiwe Adjewa

Trivia

• She was apparently named by her godmother after Jeremy "Pantz" Smith, whose nickname was Thandy.
• The name "Thandiwe" means "beloved" in Shona. Newton played a character named "Beloved" in the film adaptation of the Toni Morrison novel Beloved in 1998.
• Her daughter was named in honor of the character Ripley in the Alien films.
• She is friends with Nicole Kidman, who recommended her to her then-husband Tom Cruise for Impossible II.

External links

• • Exclusive Interview: Thandie Newton "The Chronicles of Riddick"

1972 births | Living people | British actors | English actors | British film actors | English film actors | British television actors | English television actors | Black British actors | People of Zambian heritage | ER actors | Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge | Worst Supporting Actress Razzie nominees

Thandie Newton | Thandie Newton | タンディ・ニュートン | Thandie Newton | Thandie Newton | Thandie Newton | Thandie Newton | Thandie Newton