| Thandie Newton | ||||||||||
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 Newton at the 2007 BAFTAs |
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| Birth name | Thandiwe Adjewa Newton | |||||||||
| Born | November 6 1972 Zambia[1] |
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| Spouse(s) | Ol Parker (1997-present) | |||||||||
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Thandiwe Adjewa "Thandie" Newton (b. November 6 1972, Zambia) is a BAFTA Award-winning English actress.[2]
Contents |
Biography
Early life
Newton was born in Zambia, to a Zimbabwean health-care worker, Nyasha[3][4], and a white English lab technician and artist, Nick Newton. The name "Thandiwe" means "beloved" in Ndebele and the name "Thandie" is pronounced TAN-dee. Newton played a character named "Beloved" in the film adaptation of the Toni Morrison novel Beloved in 1998. According to Newton, her mother is a Zimbabwean Shona Princess.[5] She was raised in Zambia and at Penzance, Cornwall, and educated at Downing College, University of Cambridge.
Career
Newton made her film debut in Flirting (1991). This Australian movie was also a launch pad for a young Nicole Kidman, with whom she has remained friends. She gained international recognition opposite Nick Nolte in the Merchant-Ivory production of Jefferson in Paris as Sally Hemmings, which led to her being cast in Jonathan Demme's Beloved (1998), in which she played the title character and costarred with Danny Glover, Kimberly Elise, and Oprah Winfrey. She played the female lead Nyah Hall in the film Mission: Impossible II. When this film went over schedule, she had to pull out of the film Charlie's Angels, and her character ultimately went to Lucy Liu. Between 2003 and 2005, Newton played Makemba "Kem" Likasu, the love interest of Dr. John Carter on the American television series ER, and in 2004 also appeared in The Chronicles of Riddick. She appeared in Crash as a wealthy black woman who, along with her husband, finds herself the target of a racist policeman (played by Matt Dillon). The policeman molests her before ultimately saving her life. Newton was honoured with a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006. Crash also won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2005. Newton was an introducer at Wembley Stadium on July 7, 2007 for the UK leg of Live Earth. She was due to introduce Al Gore to the concert, but he was delayed, leaving Newton to tell jokes to try and entertain the audience, and talking about how she was thinking while driving to the concert.
Personal life
Newton married English writer and director Ol Parker in 1997. The couple has two daughters: Ripley, born in 2000, and Nico, born in 2004. Her daughters were named after the character Ripley in the Alien films and the cult singer of The Velvet Underground fame.[6] 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".[7] 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.[6]
Awards/Nominations
- BAFTA
- 2006, Best Supporting Actress: Crash (Winner)
- BET Award
- 2006, Best Actress: (Nominated)
- Black Movie Awards
- 2006, Best Supporting Actress: Crash (Nominated)
- Black Reel Awards
- 2006, Best Supporting Actress: Crash (Nominated)
- 2003, Best Actress: The Truth About Charlie (Nominated)
- 2000, Best Actress: Besieged (Nominated)
- Image Awards
- 2007, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: The Pursuit of Happyness (Nominated)
- 2006, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Crash (Nominated)
- 2003, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: The Truth About Charlie (Nominated)
- 2001, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Mission: Impossible II (Nominated)
- 1999, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Beloved (Nominated)
- Razzie Award
- 2001, Worst Supporting Actress: Mission: Impossible II (Nominated)
- Screen Actors Guild
- 2006, Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture: Crash (Winner)
Filmography
| Year | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Flirting | Thandiwe Adjewa |
| Pirate Prince | Becky Newton | |
| 1993 | The Young Americans | Rachael Stevens |
| 1994 | Loaded | Zita |
| Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles | Yvette | |
| 1995 | Jefferson in Paris | Sally Hemings |
| The Journey of August King | Annalees | |
| 1996 | The Leading Man | Hilary Rule |
| 1997 | Gridlock'd | Barbara 'Cookie' Cook |
| In Your Dreams | Clare | |
| 1998 | Beloved | Beloved |
| Besieged | Shandurai | |
| 2000 | Mission: Impossible II | Nyah Nordoff-Hall |
| It Was an Accident | Noreen Hurlock | |
| 2002 | The Truth About Charlie | Regina Lambert |
| 2003 | Shade | Tiffany |
| 2004 | The Chronicles of Riddick | Dame Vaako |
| Crash | Christine | |
| 2006 | The Pursuit of Happyness | Linda |
| 2007 | Run, Fat Boy, Run | Libby |
| Norbit | Kate | |
| TBA | RocknRolla | Stella |
References
- ^ biography from nytimes
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628601/bio
- ^ biography at nytimes.com
- ^ biography at yahoo movies
- ^ Daily Telegraph.
- ^ a b Craig McLean Telling it like it is Scotsman.com - 7 January 2007
- ^ http://www.wewish.org.uk
External links
- Thandie Newton at the Internet Movie Database
- Exclusive Interview: Thandie Newton "The Chronicles of Riddick"
- We Wish: Hopes and Dreams of Cornwall's Children
- Video of premiere, London Sept 3 2007
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Cate Blanchett for The Aviator |
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role 2005 for Crash |
Succeeded by Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls |
