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Thandiwe Newton is “taking back what’s hers”.
Appearing on the cover of British Vogue, the Westworld actress revealed she is going by her birth name again after being incorrectly credited in her first role.
Newton, born Melanie Thandiwe Newton, said there was a mistake in her first film in which she was credited as “Thandie”, and, subsequently, every role since.
She told the magazine of finally using Thandiwe: “That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine.”
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The 48-year-old actress also opened up about the response to her claims she was a victim of sexual abuse in her teenage years in the industry.
In June 2016, Newton told W Magazine an incident had allegedly occurred when she was 16 years old on the set of 1991 film Flirting, which also starred Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts.
She alleged the film’s directorfilmed up her skirt during her audition, and later allegedly shared the tapes with his friends at poker games.
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She also alleged she was “groomed over weeks” on the set, leading to a separate incident.
“I didn’t fight him off; I was almost paralysed with fear. It was sexual abuse,” she alleged.
“I was 16, and a virgin. I’d been psychologically groomed over weeks,” she claimed in an interview with the Sunday Times.
Now, in her latest interview, The Pursuit of Happyness actress said the alleged incident left her “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***ed up it was. I was basically waiting for someone to come along and say, ‘Well, what shall we do about this?’’’
Newton has previously said the incident was part of the reason she took her role in HBO’s Westworld, in which she plays a robot who becomes aware of her existence and turns against her creators.
Newton and co-star Evan Rachel Wood successfully fought for equal pay with their male counterparts back in 2018.
“It wasn’t a celebration. I was disgusted,” she told Vogue of the win, explaining that the industry has a long way to go.
“Even though people know they can speak out now, there is still the fear of losing their job,” she added.
“I mean literally, people still say, ‘There’s someone else who could take this position, if you’re not happy,’ that kind of sh*t. I do think studio heads need to take much more responsibility.”
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