Thandiwe Adjewa "Thandie" Newton is a BAFTA award winning actress born on 6th November 1972 who is probably best recognised for her roles in ER and hit movies such as ‘The chronicles of Riddick’ and ‘Norbit’.
Thandie was born in Zambia to a health care worker mother and a lab technician father. Her original name "Thandiwe" means "beloved" in Ndebele and there is often some confusion on how to pronounce her name. It is pronounced TAN-dee.
In 1998 she was cast on ‘Beloved’ a hit movie starring Kimberly Elise and Danny Glover to name but a few. Thandie later took on the role of Nyah Hall in Mission Impossible II alongside Tom Cruise after being recommended by Nicole Kidman (His then wife). The film received great reviews but due to filming running longer than expected she missed out on a lead role in Charlie’s Angels which eventually went to Lucy Liu.
In 2004 one of Thandie’s biggest and arguably best roles was in ‘Crash’. The movie starred many big name actors and actresses and for her fantastic role in the film Thandie was awarded a prestigious BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006. The movie also won an Academy award for best picture in 2005.
Thandie Newton is married to writer and director Ol Parker, the couple tied the knot in 1997 and now have two daughters together named Ripley who was born in 2000 and Nico who was born in 2004. Thandie is rumoured to have chosen these unusual names after getting inspiration from the character ‘Ripley’ in the hit movie ‘Aliens’ and the lead singer of Velvet Underground although this has never been fully confirmed.
Thandie Newton’s first movie role was in ‘Flirting’ in 1991. The movie also starred Nicole Kidman, the two have reportedly remained close friends ever since.She starred in the Merchant-Ivory production of Jefferson in Paris alongside actor Nick Nolte. Thandie played Sally Hemmings and her role gained her a lot of international recognition.
In 1998 she was cast on ‘Beloved’ a hit movie starring Kimberly Elise and Danny Glover to name but a few. Thandie later took on the role of Nyah Hall in Mission Impossible II alongside Tom Cruise after being recommended by Nicole Kidman (His then wife). The film received great reviews but due to filming running longer than expected she missed out on a lead role in Charlie’s Angels which eventually went to Lucy Liu.
In 2004 one of Thandie’s biggest and arguably best roles was in ‘Crash’. The movie starred many big name actors and actresses and for her fantastic role in the film Thandie was awarded a prestigious BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006. The movie also won an Academy award for best picture in 2005.
Thandie Newton is married to writer and director Ol Parker, the couple tied the knot in 1997 and now have two daughters together named Ripley who was born in 2000 and Nico who was born in 2004. Thandie is rumoured to have chosen these unusual names after getting inspiration from the character ‘Ripley’ in the hit movie ‘Aliens’ and the lead singer of Velvet Underground although this has never been fully confirmed.
