New Photo session 30th November

Actress Thandie Newton in New York City at the Regency Hotel on November 30, 2006. Newton stars next opposite Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness" starting December 15, 2006. (AP Photo/WWD) Picture by: Talaya Centeno
Has anyone any larger pictures from this session?

Thandie is speaking live on Virgin Radio now

pictures have just appeared on virgin site

Thandie is speaking live currently on virgin radio, she is just reading the script, talking about christmas, panto starts in 20 minutes, Christian is saying you can watch it later! it will be streamed.

http://www.virginradio.co.uk/djs_shows/shows/breakfast/features/christmas_panto.html

streaming has started, thandie is not in costume as yet, the web cam is a bit distant from the stage, someone has just re adjusted it thank goodness, lots of people wellmaybe 8 are in front of the tiny stage, its starting now....

end of part one, its funny brian keeps swearing and amusing dr who, thandie is trying to play it straight.

part 2 is starting, thandie now has a huge feather on her head, christian has just changed the words to Mandy to Thandie....

part 3 in a bit.

they cannot get the sound right, christian is back on stage...

thandie ran off with dr who into the tardis and it all ended with a version of footloose.

Fun and quiet silly, thandie should do some more panto.

daily podcast is available now

Thandie meets Brenda London 19th December

Royal Reception to recognise people who have made a significant contribution to local or national life in 2006, held at Buckingham Palace,London, England - 19.12.06

Newton curtseyed and told the Queen her home was beautiful.
The actress, who was acclaimed for her role in the Hollywood hit Crash, said afterwards: "The Queen hoped we were having a good time. She said it is nice to have a party at Christmas.
"She's so lovely I just wanted to hug her."

This is from the Daily Prune, i am in a silly mood this morning.

Pursuing Thandie Newton

Actress Thandie Newton must really like yelling a lot, because she's had a lot of chances to do it in her last two movies, the surprise Oscar winner Crash and the upcoming drama The Pursuit of Happyness opposite Will Smith. Smith plays the real-life Chris Gardner, a down on his luck salesman trying to land his dream job as a stockbroker, and Newton is his unsupportive wife. It's a pretty dark and dramatic role for the actress, because in some ways, it makes her the antagonist of the film.

ComingSoon.net talked to the beautiful and talented actresses about the role and about the surprise success of her last movie.

ComingSoon.net: Why did you feel you had to have this role?
Thandie Newton: For the story, the overall story, and also I didn't want someone else to play this role and for them to be able to justify what a b*tch is that left her child. I wanted her to be a sad, messed-up woman who committed slow suicide by leaving her child, and I knew that was me that could do that. Once I read it, I knew I had a responsibility. Sure someone else could have done it, but I didn't want to take the risk of this being left.

CS: Did you get a chance to meet or talk to Chris Gardner's real ex-wife before doing the movie?
Thandie Newton: No, she didn't want to have anything to do with the movie. She had other things going on I guess. It wasn't about that family. It wasn't about Chris Gardner making a movie about his life. It's a story that had been bought by 20/20 and that's how it happened. Chris Gardner wasn't looking for a way to have his life made into a movie; it was an accident. The movie is very separate from them as a family, and the character I play, Linda, I don't even know actually what Chris's wife is like, because the character was fictionalized. So we had free reign to create her but place her into this slot that the movie needed. The character, for the purpose of the movie, needs to bring them down so low so that he would have somewhere to climb from for the rest of the film, and that was really hard for me. When I first the script, I thought, "No way" because I would want to explore the sadness that this woman is going through, the pain that she is going through, and what would make someone self-destruct to such a degree that they would leave their child. I think that is a slow form of suicide, and I'm a mom and that's all that there is.

CS: Did you talk to Chris about what happened to his wife and her story? I thought they actually got back together at some point after this movie.
Newton: Well, it was so long ago, so I think they are both still living out their storyline right now. They had another child in a brief interlude. I was around Chris a lot during the rehearsal period, and I didn't talk at all during the rehearsal process. I didn't even want to see him actually. It wasn't a conscious choice. I was finding it hard because I felt I was battling with the story, which wasn't going to allow this woman's story to come out, and also, I just desperately didn't want the character to be this awful woman. I honestly felt like I was there for all of womankind. I was the one opportunity in the story to reveal that there are greater forces at work, deeper, darker and sad things. It's funny on how some people just watch the movie, and they see me playing such a bitch, really unsympathetic; and some people really do feel the pain. It's whatever you bring to it. That's really the best kind of movies, where the character really taps into how you feel. "Crash" was very much like that. People would come out of it raging angry and some people crying and happy. It's whatever touches in your history, your family, your personal history.

CS: Since the character of Linda is fictionalized, how did you go about creating her?
Newton: I read the role in the book, and it doesn't say enough about why a person would do this. There has to be a hint as to why or how she could leave her child and that must be some psychological breakdown depression. I spoke to Gabriele on the phone, and I said, "This is my problem with the story" and he absolutely agreed. We need to rehearse. We need to find moments where we can reveal the depression and the instability. I couldn't believe how much time and energy they were putting into this part of the story. I rehearsed for one week, every day with Will and Gabriele, to try and find the moments where you saw their relationship falling apart, the misunderstandings. There are so many things that had to be involved and I do think we managed to do it. I really do. It's that social situation. It's his lack of work opportunities. It's the fact that they put all their savings …it was a moment in time where it just broke the back of their opportunities as a couple. That was there whether I tried or not. There's one line in the story where I say, "You said it was going to be okay even before I got pregnant". We tried really hard to quickly communicate huge things.

CS: Is it harder to find your character when playing an American?
Newton: Each character I play the accent is going to be quite a different American accent. Just when I thought I can do an American accent, I get a role where the woman is based from San Francisco, so I have to do a whole lot more work now. I come to each one as if it were a whole different country, because when you are in America, there are so many different worlds. To make that believable, I couldn't use my "Crash" accent. It wouldn't have been right. There was a woman working in the costume department who had the most fantastic voice, fantastic accent. She lived in San Francisco all her life, a black American woman, so I just interviewed her over a couple of days and listened to her and talked to her, and that's how I got that accent.

CS: Is doing an American accent always an extra obstacle?
Newton: The funny thing is, bless their hearts, but the producers on our movie were so concerned about it. I think it's because if I put on a little bit of eye makeup, I can look nice and demure, and it was the idea to entirely strip away all that civilized and be someone who is just low in class, never had any opportunities, just depressed. It was more about that and the only way they can draw attention to their concern. It was never a problem, and I really, really enjoyed working on that accent because it was something different for me.

CS: Did you create a back story for her?
Newton: No, I didn't. I just wanted to know where she was from. I imagine that she had a troubled time growing up, as most people do, but I think if you are in a lonely part of America, it's tough, because you are right up next to people making a good living. There are different lives just living and finding each other. It was about that and where she is from. Like I said, I was with this woman and that was very helpful. Just having a view into a typical young person's life growing up, black and in San Francisco.

CS: What was it like working with Will?
Newton: I was bummed out that the one time I work with Will, we just shout at each other all day, and it was one of those movies where we were already getting into it. Not that we didn't get along in between, but when you shout at someone all day, you can't look them in the eye at the end of it. It was really raw and intense, and it was for hard for them to go out and have a good time. On the other hand, I really felt privileged to be around someone who… you think you know what Will can do. He is so known in the world. He's revealed so much of himself through music and everything. His TV shows have gone and on. And yet here he delivered something new, and he went deeper. I think he brought a lot of his own personal stuff to the story. It was a huge challenge and I think that one of the reasons why I wanted to do the movie because I was really in awe just to champion someone like him. He doesn't have to do this. He doesn't have to take the misery every day to play this role, but he wanted to be challenged, and I think that's very admirable.

CS: Would you ever consider working with your kids the way Will did with Jaden?
Newton: I was amazed that Will had so many roles on this film. He was an actor. He was playing someone who is already living was going to honor that. That's another layer to the performance and he's being a dad and being an acting coach to his son. Unbelievable. I wouldn't seek out an opportunity for that, but neither did Will. It was an accident.

CS: What do you think an outsider like Gabriele Muccino brought to the movie?
Newton: It's interesting. I was talking to Will about it and Will was hugely instrumental in Gabriele being the choice. I think the studio execs were perplexed about it, because many well known American directors could've been the director of this film. Will had a very strong instinct that a non-American should make a movie about the American dream. That's what the movie needed, and I think he was right. I know I've done that, played a role where because I'm not American, there's more of a truth to it which can make it painful in a way because you are not trying to be loyal, so it's harsher as a result, more truthful. That's what Gabriele did and Will was adamant that Gabriele was going to bring his vision brought to the screen. There was going to be no meddling from the powers that be, and the way to achieve that, which was so clever, was always letting Gabriele having the last word on everything. There were days I would be like, "I don't think I should be doing that" and Gabriele and Will would just give it up. That's a tough thing to do when you are a big star, but also someone who has proven themselves many times and what you know is right. He is a very clever guy, Will. He really knows what he is doing. As a result you've got Will in an uncomfortable place and that's what partly makes this movie. The characters find themselves in uncomfortable places, and that always gives an edge to a performance I think. That's what great directors are, and that's the difference. When they make you do something that you don't necessary want to do and then you watch it, and it's the questioning and challenge and discomfort that gives the film that extra something.

CS: Obviously, Will is being given a big awards push for the movie, but do you think they might do the same for your supporting role?
Newton: I'm just glad to be sitting here right now, really, and for the film to have turned out so beautifully. I could be really political about it, and if there's lots of supporting actresses out there that delivered very strong roles, it's probably unlikely, because it's a very small role that doesn't have that nice tying it up at the end. I don't come back. If it's a lean year, than who knows? But it's not hugely important to me. I had an amazing year last year. "Crash" did really well, but I'm always surprised about what happens. Sometimes you can really predict things but that's not what it's all about. I know it's a cliché but it really isn't. After "Beloved," I was so gutted that the film didn't have any attention, I just thought, "I don't know anything," so I don't have any expectations.

CS: It must have been nice to see "Crash" get the picture award after that long journey it took.
Newton: Oh, listen, I'm very, very proud, and I will weep and weep (with joy obviously) if anybody is celebrated in the way that I feel I was celebrated. It's always wonderful when someone you think is great gets recognized.
Source: Edward Douglas

The Pursuit of Happyness

http://comingsoon.net/news/
opens on Friday, December 15

Independent newspaper London 15th December 2006

She's behind you! Thandie and Dr Who in radio panto

By Oliver Duff

Published: 15 December 2006

* News of a seasonal treat from Virgin Radio. The station's breakfast DJ, Christian O'Connell, has procured the services of Hollywood lady Thandie Newton (co-star of 2005's Oscar-winning Crash) and Dr Who actor David Tennant to perform in a radio pantomime next Thursday. Set the alarm clock for 7.30am.

Back in September, Newton, far right, rang O'Connell at the behest of her husband, who listens to the show.

"I asked her if she'd take part in it and she said yes," O'Connell tells me. "But I thought it was a 'showbiz yes' - where her agent rings Virgin an hour later and warns me to back off.

"Instead her agent called wanting a date and advice for Thandie's outfit." She will don Cinderella's gown.

The production was meant to be a nativity, "but in these religiously charged times," says the DJ, "it is better to play safe and stay away from all that". Shame!

David Tennant, above left, is "a bit pissed off" because he wanted to wear jeans and a T-shirt and play Prince Charming.

Says O'Connell: "It's my bloody show and I want to be the Prince. David is going to be Button, and we are all wearing costumes so he will be dressed as an elf."

Suggs is "The Lairy Godmother" and Brian Blessed is the Town Crier/narrator - so the production may run well over.

The booming comedian is under strict instructions not to tell "the story about his massage sessions with Patrick Stewart". Choke.

O'Connell adds: "It could be the last show I ever do. It is going to be cramped in the studio. Blessed may have to do his bit from reception."

* London's theatreland has attracted a number of Hollywood actors over these past years. Whilst some might have been guilty of trying to resurrect their flagging careers, it's nice to welcome back a true bona fide star.

Jessica Lange, the twice Oscar-winning actress who made her name in King Kong and opposite Jack Nicholson in saucy flick The Postman Always Rings Twice, is to appear in Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie in February, at the Apollo.

Lange was last here in 2000 for Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (she was an Olivier nominee).

Recent attempts to bring Williams to the capital's stages have struggled. Despite the admirable performance of former Bond girl Rosamund Pike, Summer and Smoke closed after a month due to poor ticket sales in the shadow of big musicals such as Spamalot and Wicked.

Break a leg!

* An outraged mole gets in touch believing he has seen professional luncher Michael Winner using an ingenious ploy to avoid parking tickets outside the Ritz.

"Winner was parked on a yellow line and there was a sticker with an 'E II R' crest in the car window [see below right]," he says. "One's first impression is that it's a royal vehicle of some sort." (And hence unlikely to incur the wrath of the City of Westminster's pencil-lickers.)

Winner demolishes the disgraceful slur.

"It's the logo of my charity, the Police Memorial Trust!" he proclaims. "I can assure you that in five years it has never held sway over any traffic wardens. Though on some occasions we have got the odd fiver passed through the window.

"No, not as tips for the driver! For the charity!"

* Iain Duncan Smith got his Y-fronts in a twist this week after telling a newspaper that gay parents "don't register on the Richter scale of how to bring up children". (IDS says the unwise remark was taken out of context.)

A former employee of The Quiet Man tells Pandora that the pink vote was a delicate subject in the MP's office.

"He used to get quite ratty," said the source. "We once asked him to sign a letter supporting a Gay Pride event in Manchester. He lost his temper, screwed up the letter and threw it against his office wall.

"Another time we were discussing gay rights in a service station. He got so irate and thumped his fist against the table, catapulting a plate of food into someone's lap.

"I don't why he got so touchy. Maybe it was due to his army days."

Come on, Iain. Reach for that rainbow!

* Pandora's heart leaps upon receiving an e-mail from Fiona Gordon, the secretary to the Parliamentary Labour Party, reminding me that "we still have a few DVDs of the Leader's Speech to conference".

The disc is, as she notes, "a little bit of Labour history". And at £5, it is also an affordable, classy stocking filler. Just the ticket for Christmas Day afternoon, to prevent bloated channel-hopping in the gap between Her Maj's festive gabbling and the opening credits of The Great Escape.

"I'm very sorry," says Ms Gordon, when I ring with Pandora's credit card details. "I haven't got any left. I've been turning people away. So many Labour MPs wanted them.

"I think you may be able to buy them on the web." Ah, yes. eBay.

pandora@ independent.co.uk

* News of a seasonal treat from Virgin Radio. The station's breakfast DJ, Christian O'Connell, has procured the services of Hollywood lady Thandie Newton (co-star of 2005's Oscar-winning Crash) and Dr Who actor David Tennant to perform in a radio pantomime next Thursday. Set the alarm clock for 7.30am.

Back in September, Newton, far right, rang O'Connell at the behest of her husband, who listens to the show.

"I asked her if she'd take part in it and she said yes," O'Connell tells me. "But I thought it was a 'showbiz yes' - where her agent rings Virgin an hour later and warns me to back off.

"Instead her agent called wanting a date and advice for Thandie's outfit." She will don Cinderella's gown.

The production was meant to be a nativity, "but in these religiously charged times," says the DJ, "it is better to play safe and stay away from all that". Shame!

David Tennant, above left, is "a bit pissed off" because he wanted to wear jeans and a T-shirt and play Prince Charming.

Says O'Connell: "It's my bloody show and I want to be the Prince. David is going to be Button, and we are all wearing costumes so he will be dressed as an elf."

Suggs is "The Lairy Godmother" and Brian Blessed is the Town Crier/narrator - so the production may run well over.

The booming comedian is under strict instructions not to tell "the story about his massage sessions with Patrick Stewart". Choke.

O'Connell adds: "It could be the last show I ever do. It is going to be cramped in the studio. Blessed may have to do his bit from reception."

pandora@ independent.co.uk

Thandie's torn jeans

http://www.jackwills.com/onlinestore/shopsql/viewproductstobuy.asp?prodname=THANDIE%20TORN%20%20JEANS
i wonder?

Thandie's Los Angeles House

Only have tiny images i am not stalking honest

pictures playing catch up here

Filming sign from London

Thandie Newton on Jimmy Kimmel Live 6th December 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNZiMKzpvlY
For all those not in the USA, like me.

Scans of Thandie in January '07 Glamour Magazine

Sorry about the poor quality but my
scanner's old...

Thandie was just on Virgin radio in uk 7th December

Thandie called in from Los Angeles, the LA premiere of POH is tonight, Thandie wanted fashion advise from Christian, sounds like its the gold tonight!
Thandie has a cold, and confirmed the panto in 2 weeks time, Thandie will be Cinderella!
It was fun hearing this i was late for work had a flat tyre and it was pouring with rain.

http://www.virginradio.co.uk/djs_shows/shows/breakfast/dailybitspodcast.html
if you go there today its the 7th December podcast.
Thandie calls in at about 27 minutes in.

Recent photos

Is this Thandie and James her brother Angie?

Thandie on US Television 6th December

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, ABC
12/6: Thandie Newton, Peter Falk, Bow Wow with Chris Brown

Thandie at a special screening of POH in New York

I don't know how long this link will be available, but here are pics of Thandie and the rest of the cast of POH at a special screening in New York.

http://www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=SRH&sfld=C&logsrch=1&nbc1=1&str=Thandie%20Newton