British actress, Thandiwe Newton, who has been known as “Thandie” Newton in the movie industry for 30 years, is reverting to her real name – “Thandiwe” – three decades after it was misspelt in her first film.
The star, 48, whose full name is Melanie Thandiwe Newton, appears on the cover of the May issue of British Vogue with her name spelt correctly in a major publication for the first time.
The “Westworld” star revealed that Thandie was a careless misspelling in the credits of her first movie, the 1991 Australian film Flirting, co-starring Nicole Kidman and Noah Taylor – and it has stuck ever since.
In the film, she actually played a character called Thandiwe but in the end credits, it was spelt incorrectly.
Going forward, all her future screen projects will be credited as Thandiwe Newton, which translates to “beloved” in the Shona language of Zimbabwe, where her mother is from.
‘That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine,’ she told the magazine.
Thandiwe also spoke candidly about the abuse she received as a young actress in Hollywood in the latest issue of Vogue.
Referring to her past abuse, she said: ‘There’s a moment where the ghost of me changed, you know. And it was then, [I] was 16.’
Of her abuser, she goes on: ‘He derailed me from myself utterly. I was traumatised. It was a kind of PTSD for sure.
‘I was so distraught and appalled that a director had abused a young actress, and that it was happening elsewhere, minors getting abused and how f**ked up it was.
‘I was basically waiting for someone to come along and say, “Well, what shall we do about this?”
‘I have a seventh sense for abuse and abusers which I believe is one of the reasons why I was rejected a lot in Hollywood. I’ll talk about it until the cows come home, because I know I’ll be helping someone.’
The Line Of Duty star said of her acting career: ‘I find that acting takes more and more away from me because I’m more connected to myself than I’ve ever been, whereas before I was delighted to get an excuse to go off to another personality.
‘I couldn’t wait to get away from myself, truly, I had such low self-esteem. Acting was where I felt whole.
Her youngest daughter, Nico,16 is already four years into her own acting career, with lead roles in Dumbo and The Third Day.
Of the 16-year-old’s burgeoning career, the mother-of-three said: ‘I went to every photoshoot with her. If there was an issue with the photographer, if there was any appropriate language I was on it, I didn’t give a f**k what anyone thought.
‘When it was time for her to get an agent, I spent a month auditioning for one, even though I knew half of them.’
Thandiwe Newton is married to English film director Ol Parker and they have three children, Ripley, 20, Nico, 16, and Booker Jombe, 7, together.