Saturday, September 05, 2020
Thandie in the Sun
Mum said stay calm... even when I’m told I’m not black enough
by GARTH PEARCE
BRITISH actress Thandie Newton is one of Hollywood's leading ladies.
She started her film career at just 16 and has since gone on to star in blockbusters Mission: Impossible II, Crash and 2012.
She was born in London to a Zimbabwean mother, Nyasha, and an English father, Nick, both pictured with Thandie below, but she was brought up in Penzance, Cornwall.
The 38-year-old is married to British writer and director Ol Parker. They have two daughters - Ripley, ten, and six-year-old Nico. Her new film, For Colored Girls, co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Janet Jackson, is out now.
"MY mother taught me to remain calm and decide what is worth fighting for.
Lessons learnt ... Thandie grew up in Cornwall with her
English dad Nick and Zimbabwean mum Nyasha
She had a wide experience of life, which she passed on to me. It could have been difficult being an ethnic minority in a small seaside town, but she always made me feel unique and special.
Perhaps it was the confidence she gave me which made me never think of racism. I just did not encounter it.
There has been, how shall I put it, clumsiness with racial stereotypes. I remember having a meeting with a Hollywood studio head and talking about a role when she said: 'Yeah, Thandie, but are you black enough for this role?'
There was discussion when I took a role in the film Crash and I was told: 'But is it believable that your character has a degree?' I said: 'But I do have a degree, from Cambridge.' And the reaction was: 'Yes, but you're different.'
Even black filmmakers think I am not 'street' enough. But I am an actress - I can play anything.
How do I deal with such things? I remember my mum's advice and remain calm. If I fight for something, I do it without raising my voice or losing my temper.
If I do have doubts about black roles in films, it is about how the character is portrayed. Too often it is either a gun-toting, drugged-up role - or too poetic.
As for my own life, I do wish I had behaved differently at times. I was so young when I started acting - just 16.
It was an upsetting time in many ways. I was involved in a relationship which did not work and that affected me hugely. I was much too young. It is very easy for young women to be exploited by this industry. You see a loss of innocence everywhere - even on Big Brother.
Going to university just gave me a glaze on my mask.
Even having the world's best mum at times like these does not help!
But I wouldn't be here now, would not have met my husband, would not be the person I am, if I had not gone through that.
There is nothing else in my life in which I have been engaged so intensely as my relationship and marriage. I am a real romantic and a fairytale creator. Ol is unique, precious and gifted.
When I met him, I fell in love for the first time.
As for my career, the idea that you have a grand plan is nonsense. I just take the best of what is around at the time.
I've made many mistakes. My worst fashion one was at the premiere of Jefferson In Paris. I went to get a facial. But it was a matter of tweezing and pulling and by the time of the premiere I looked as if I had been through a mosquito air raid.
My parents gave me a happy upbringing and good education. My mum has always been there for me. She's even been on location with me to look after my daughters.
When I compare my life with my mum's, I know I've had an easy time. What has been happening in Zimbabwe (where Mugabe has brought the country to its knees) is painful for my mum. She still has sisters over there.
I have been waiting to go back to visit - it is a beautiful part of the world with very friendly people, but it has got worse and worse.
So my own life has been blessed - and I fully appreciate what I have."
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Thandie Newton: 'It's not a play where you want to corpse'
The actor on Baftas, backstage pranks and her West End debut in Death and the Maiden
Thandie Newton can't hide her excitement. The actress has starred with Tom Cruise and Will Smith and won a Bafta, but now she is about to make her stage debut in a West End run of Death and the Maiden. "I just can't wait. Ten years ago I would have been terrified, now emotionally I am ready to do this," she says.
It is a few days before rehearsals start and we are the only people in an enormous cafe at a west London studio where Newton, dressed casually in skinny grey jeans and a sweatshirt, has just been photographed for the play's poster. Isn't she jumping in at the deep end by playing the lead role as the tortured political prisoner in Ariel Dorfman's acclaimed play?
"It's such a great part and the opportunity to play a role from start to finish," she says quietly. "Acting on a film is like having to interrupt peeing or an orgasm. Literally having to 'uggh' [she takes a sharp intake of breath] start and stop."
Newton, 38, has starred in films for 20 years since her debut in Flirting, alongside her friend Nicole Kidman, but her stock rose significantly, especially in Britain, after she won a Bafta for Crash in 2005. "I don't think people ever really knew where I was from before, so they assumed I wasn't British." Her latest film, Retreat, a tense drama co-starring Cillian Murphy, about an unhappy couple stranded on a remote island, opens this month.
Working in the theatre means a short commute from her north-west London home where she lives with her husband, the writer and director Ol Parker, and their two daughters. With Parker busy directing his second film, Now Is Good, Newton has been on domestic duty. "I was feeling smug at the start of the summer as he was working really long hours and I was taking the kids off to Ibiza. Now I'm tired, it's such a marathon." A few minutes later Newton's mobile bleeps: it is her nanny phoning to say she has set off the smoke alarm by mistake.
As well as the opportunity to immerse herself in Death and the Maiden, Newton is looking forward to playing some pranks. During the press junket for Run Fatboy Run she filled Simon Pegg's water bottles with vodka, so what is she planning now? "I wouldn't want to do anything to them during the play, this is not a play where you want to corpse, just saying the word corpse in the context of this play seems incredibly inappropriate. But I think a dressing room door locked now and again is OK."
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thandie in ES Magazine
10 minutes with Thandie Newton
Hannah Nathanson
15 Apr 2011
The fashionable film star talks protests, rehab and practical jokes with Hannah Nathanson
You studied social anthropology at Cambridge, would you have joined the recent protest?
God, yes! I think that protest was hugely significant. The government should take into account the fact that people have taken to the streets unhappy and allow that to be part of the ongoing dialogue.
How are the cuts affecting you?
It's always the arts. It's the most obvious place to make cuts, but it's also the place everyone goes when they need their broken hearts mended.
Who are you wearing today?
Jonathan Saunders. I get a huge amount of attention when I wear his designs. They flatter me and make me feel unique.
Would you feel comfortable wearing John Galliano?
If someone's gone into rehab, I'm not thinking about their clothes. This is a much bigger deal than clothes; this is about a human being who's trying to check out of life.
Would you be willing to forget about what he said?
It goes way beyond what was said and any insults or offence taken. This is a human being who is in pain and I hope to God that he finds a way through that. I will be there to applaud him.
You obviously feel strongly about it…
It makes me emotional to talk about it.
Let's change the subject. What do you do when you're bored?
I play practical jokes.
Do you have a signature prank?
Growing up in Cornwall, we used to play a joke called 'shitty handbag'.
Goodness. How does that work?
We'd scoop up hot, fresh horse poo, put it in an inexpensive handbag and leave it on the roadside. We'd then hide in the bushes nearby until some kind, honest person would come along and pick up the handbag thinking it had been accidentally dropped and look inside.
Did you run away at that point?
No, they'd be hit in the face by this steaming poo and at that moment we'd scream 'shitty handbag!' and then run off. It provided hours of fun. I played a version of it on Graham Norton when I went on his show.
Have you ever had your comeuppance?
Filming Mission: Impossible II, my co-star Richard Roxburgh got me good. It's a gorgeous feeling, though, when you think, 'Oh my God, someone's left a poo in my handbag!' and then you realise that it's actually a squashed Mars bar. It's a sense of relief followed by good humour.
Thandie Newton is ambassador for the British Designers Collective, a unique collaboration between Value Retail and the British Fashion Council (01869 245 618; bicestervillage.com)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Guardian review of Shooting Stars
And welcome, for example, to a special Christmas Shooting Stars (BBC2). No, I don't know what that "for example" is doing there either, but that's what Bob Mortimer says – and it's funny. Shooting Stars is about the baffling, the surreal, the unexpected and the unbelievably silly. This festive episode begins with a hanging (of a mouse) and ends with a race (between Ricky Tomlinson and Ronnie Wood, on mobility scooters). In between is half an hour of the usual lunacy.
Bob is impaled, up the arse, on the end of of Vic's electric guitar; Walter Hottle Bottle jumps in slow motion; Ulrikakaka downs a pint of Advocaat in one, then burps loudly; Jack Dee has a face like an abandoned winkle-picker, or a willy warmer with mouse droppings all over it; Joanna Page is Welsh and pronounces words funny; Thandie Newton is pestered by Bob; Angelous has been hiding in the trees outside Ulrikakaka's bedroom; the Christmas tree catches fire; a stuffed buzzard loses its confidence when a cocktail is thrown in its face; Ricky rides a rocking horse while eating chicken drumsticks.
And there are some fiendishly difficult questions. Like: true or false, muesli is a byproduct of coffin-making? (true). And will bacon stick to Bob's face? (Yes). And what's the latest Ron ever stayed up? (Very).
I'm still not convinced it was a good idea to bring back Shooting Stars. It was a show that fitted so perfectly into the 1990s, like Seinfeld and Britpop. But this Christmas special was a party.
Bob is impaled, up the arse, on the end of of Vic's electric guitar; Walter Hottle Bottle jumps in slow motion; Ulrikakaka downs a pint of Advocaat in one, then burps loudly; Jack Dee has a face like an abandoned winkle-picker, or a willy warmer with mouse droppings all over it; Joanna Page is Welsh and pronounces words funny; Thandie Newton is pestered by Bob; Angelous has been hiding in the trees outside Ulrikakaka's bedroom; the Christmas tree catches fire; a stuffed buzzard loses its confidence when a cocktail is thrown in its face; Ricky rides a rocking horse while eating chicken drumsticks.
And there are some fiendishly difficult questions. Like: true or false, muesli is a byproduct of coffin-making? (true). And will bacon stick to Bob's face? (Yes). And what's the latest Ron ever stayed up? (Very).
I'm still not convinced it was a good idea to bring back Shooting Stars. It was a show that fitted so perfectly into the 1990s, like Seinfeld and Britpop. But this Christmas special was a party.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Thandie in the Sun
Mum said stay calm... even when I’m told I’m not black enough
by GARTH PEARCE
BRITISH actress Thandie Newton is one of Hollywood's leading ladies.
She started her film career at just 16 and has since gone on to star in blockbusters Mission: Impossible II, Crash and 2012.
She was born in London to a Zimbabwean mother, Nyasha, and an English father, Nick, both pictured with Thandie below, but she was brought up in Penzance, Cornwall.
The 38-year-old is married to British writer and director Ol Parker. They have two daughters - Ripley, ten, and six-year-old Nico. Her new film, For Colored Girls, co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Janet Jackson, is out now.
"MY mother taught me to remain calm and decide what is worth fighting for.
Lessons learnt ... Thandie grew up in Cornwall with her
English dad Nick and Zimbabwean mum Nyasha
She had a wide experience of life, which she passed on to me. It could have been difficult being an ethnic minority in a small seaside town, but she always made me feel unique and special.
Perhaps it was the confidence she gave me which made me never think of racism. I just did not encounter it.
There has been, how shall I put it, clumsiness with racial stereotypes. I remember having a meeting with a Hollywood studio head and talking about a role when she said: 'Yeah, Thandie, but are you black enough for this role?'
There was discussion when I took a role in the film Crash and I was told: 'But is it believable that your character has a degree?' I said: 'But I do have a degree, from Cambridge.' And the reaction was: 'Yes, but you're different.'
Even black filmmakers think I am not 'street' enough. But I am an actress - I can play anything.
How do I deal with such things? I remember my mum's advice and remain calm. If I fight for something, I do it without raising my voice or losing my temper.
If I do have doubts about black roles in films, it is about how the character is portrayed. Too often it is either a gun-toting, drugged-up role - or too poetic.
As for my own life, I do wish I had behaved differently at times. I was so young when I started acting - just 16.
It was an upsetting time in many ways. I was involved in a relationship which did not work and that affected me hugely. I was much too young. It is very easy for young women to be exploited by this industry. You see a loss of innocence everywhere - even on Big Brother.
Going to university just gave me a glaze on my mask.
Even having the world's best mum at times like these does not help!
But I wouldn't be here now, would not have met my husband, would not be the person I am, if I had not gone through that.
There is nothing else in my life in which I have been engaged so intensely as my relationship and marriage. I am a real romantic and a fairytale creator. Ol is unique, precious and gifted.
When I met him, I fell in love for the first time.
As for my career, the idea that you have a grand plan is nonsense. I just take the best of what is around at the time.
I've made many mistakes. My worst fashion one was at the premiere of Jefferson In Paris. I went to get a facial. But it was a matter of tweezing and pulling and by the time of the premiere I looked as if I had been through a mosquito air raid.
My parents gave me a happy upbringing and good education. My mum has always been there for me. She's even been on location with me to look after my daughters.
When I compare my life with my mum's, I know I've had an easy time. What has been happening in Zimbabwe (where Mugabe has brought the country to its knees) is painful for my mum. She still has sisters over there.
I have been waiting to go back to visit - it is a beautiful part of the world with very friendly people, but it has got worse and worse.
So my own life has been blessed - and I fully appreciate what I have."
by GARTH PEARCE
BRITISH actress Thandie Newton is one of Hollywood's leading ladies.
She started her film career at just 16 and has since gone on to star in blockbusters Mission: Impossible II, Crash and 2012.
She was born in London to a Zimbabwean mother, Nyasha, and an English father, Nick, both pictured with Thandie below, but she was brought up in Penzance, Cornwall.
The 38-year-old is married to British writer and director Ol Parker. They have two daughters - Ripley, ten, and six-year-old Nico. Her new film, For Colored Girls, co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Janet Jackson, is out now.
"MY mother taught me to remain calm and decide what is worth fighting for.
Lessons learnt ... Thandie grew up in Cornwall with her
English dad Nick and Zimbabwean mum Nyasha
She had a wide experience of life, which she passed on to me. It could have been difficult being an ethnic minority in a small seaside town, but she always made me feel unique and special.
Perhaps it was the confidence she gave me which made me never think of racism. I just did not encounter it.
There has been, how shall I put it, clumsiness with racial stereotypes. I remember having a meeting with a Hollywood studio head and talking about a role when she said: 'Yeah, Thandie, but are you black enough for this role?'
There was discussion when I took a role in the film Crash and I was told: 'But is it believable that your character has a degree?' I said: 'But I do have a degree, from Cambridge.' And the reaction was: 'Yes, but you're different.'
Even black filmmakers think I am not 'street' enough. But I am an actress - I can play anything.
How do I deal with such things? I remember my mum's advice and remain calm. If I fight for something, I do it without raising my voice or losing my temper.
If I do have doubts about black roles in films, it is about how the character is portrayed. Too often it is either a gun-toting, drugged-up role - or too poetic.
As for my own life, I do wish I had behaved differently at times. I was so young when I started acting - just 16.
It was an upsetting time in many ways. I was involved in a relationship which did not work and that affected me hugely. I was much too young. It is very easy for young women to be exploited by this industry. You see a loss of innocence everywhere - even on Big Brother.
Going to university just gave me a glaze on my mask.
Even having the world's best mum at times like these does not help!
But I wouldn't be here now, would not have met my husband, would not be the person I am, if I had not gone through that.
There is nothing else in my life in which I have been engaged so intensely as my relationship and marriage. I am a real romantic and a fairytale creator. Ol is unique, precious and gifted.
When I met him, I fell in love for the first time.
As for my career, the idea that you have a grand plan is nonsense. I just take the best of what is around at the time.
I've made many mistakes. My worst fashion one was at the premiere of Jefferson In Paris. I went to get a facial. But it was a matter of tweezing and pulling and by the time of the premiere I looked as if I had been through a mosquito air raid.
My parents gave me a happy upbringing and good education. My mum has always been there for me. She's even been on location with me to look after my daughters.
When I compare my life with my mum's, I know I've had an easy time. What has been happening in Zimbabwe (where Mugabe has brought the country to its knees) is painful for my mum. She still has sisters over there.
I have been waiting to go back to visit - it is a beautiful part of the world with very friendly people, but it has got worse and worse.
So my own life has been blessed - and I fully appreciate what I have."
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Shooting Stars information
Shooting Stars
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer host a Christmas special of the bonkers quiz, with Rolling Stone legend Ronnie Wood, Hollywood actress Thandie Newton, Royle Family actor Ricky Tomlinson and Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page. Folk singers Mulligan and O'Hare perform a medley of festive songs, and Angelos Epithemiou tries to move in with one of the guests
Category Game Show/Quiz
Director Ian Trill
Producer Lisa Clark
BBC2 10:00pm-10:30pm (30 minutes) Thu 30 Dec
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer host a Christmas special of the bonkers quiz, with Rolling Stone legend Ronnie Wood, Hollywood actress Thandie Newton, Royle Family actor Ricky Tomlinson and Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page. Folk singers Mulligan and O'Hare perform a medley of festive songs, and Angelos Epithemiou tries to move in with one of the guests
Category Game Show/Quiz
Director Ian Trill
Producer Lisa Clark
BBC2 10:00pm-10:30pm (30 minutes) Thu 30 Dec
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Retreat Poster and more information
Currently in post-production in Wales, Retreat is an intriguing pshycological thriller produced by that looks to play on the extent to which end of the world fears effect groups. Thanks to AFM we have the first poster art to share as well as an extended synopsis.
Synopsis:
In a last-ditch attempt to save their faltering marriage, a professional couple Martin & Kate Badenoch (Cillian Murphy & Thandie Newton) retreat to a beautiful, yet remote and unpopulated island of Dinnish, (U.K.). A place where they once shared a romantic holiday – an island that holds fond memories of happier times.
It is Autumn. The rocky, barren moors are blown by freezing winds, and the generator and radio communication in the couple’s cottage are failing. Relationships are already tense, and anxieties are pushed higher when they lose all contact with the mainland, and find themselves inexplicably stranded and cut off.
After a huge storm, a stranger is washed up on the shore. He has frightening news of cataclysmic events happening in the world outside. But who is this volatile, charismatic American dressed in uniform and carrying a gun. Is he telling the truth? Slowly, the couple become unwitting players in a ménage-a-trois.
In a series of tense twists the captive couple uses all their ingenuity to outwit the stranger and unravel the ‘truth’. But is the truth what they really want to hear? Loyalties divide and merge, paranoia runs high and conflicts bubble to the surface resulting in a violent and shocking conclusion.
Thandie Newton Loved Taking Her Role "To The Edge"
By BlackVoices.com published on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 and is filed under Entertainment. You can follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. ShareThis
Filed under: Interviews
It’s been a long time since Thandie Newton appeared in an ensemble film featuring mostly females. That was 1998 and the film was Jonathan Demme’s ‘Beloved.’
Now, twelve years later, Newton gets to work with her co-star Kimberly Elise again in Tyler Perry‘s film, ‘For Colored Girls,’ an adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s legendary play.
The London, England native plays Tangie, a promiscuous bartender who’s the daughter of Whoopi Goldberg‘s character and sister of Tessa Thompson‘s character.
In speaking with Black Voices, Newton talks about coming into the project knowing very little about the legendary play, and working with Elise again.
How did you come into this play initially, and how were you asked to be part of it?
Thandie Newton: The same thing happened at the same time. Tyler called me maybe 18 months ago and told me he wanted to do this piece, and I hadn’t read it or seen it being performed. I’m English, and it’s not my world, funnily enough. That was my first introduction to the piece. I read his script first, and then I read the play. I was completely intrigued by the possibilities. I could see what he wanted to do by obviously making it more contemporary, making it more accessible to the viewer, but at the same time using the poetry. I thought it was really cool, experimental and interesting. I couldn’t think of seeing it done before. In musicals people burst into song, but this is a whole different thing. I really loved the thought of performing the poetry. It was a challenge that was going to be a difficult one. You get that wrong… these moments of poetry can either elevate the material or make it laughable. From being on the set and seeing the other actors working, I know that they will provide real moments of lucid emotion.
How would you compare this character to your other roles?
TN: I’ve had a few other roles in my career where I felt challenged, satisfied, stimulated, afraid… all those things. ‘Beloved was one, ‘Crash’ was another. I’m able to really reach the edge of an emotional capacity through the character’s experiences. It’s not for my catharsis, it’s to actually take the character on an emotional journey and make that believable and to feel and experience their lives that I had never on my own. To have a completely unique moment that I have never had in my life, and probably will never have. That is pretty out there. It’s like a feeling of being possessed by a spirit medium, like a trance state. There were times with this, probably because we shot so fast, had a grueling schedule, I get home at the end of the day and I can barely remember what I’ve done, ’cause I’ve been in a really trippy state. That’s what it feels like, acting at its most complete, for me, is I’m totally out of my own experiences. It’s like being hypnotized.
Is there anything in the character you can relate to?
TN: Nothing. No, no, no.. Oh my lord. From the childhood, parenting, social background, everything’s different, and that was why it was such a satisfying, complete form of self-hypnosis. I really absorbed myself. What would it have been like to be this girl? To be abused by your grandfather, for your mother to have allowed it to happen. Your mother has coupled with a white man so she’ll have lighter-skinned babies so the grandfather will want to have sex with them? It’s just too crazy. In a way, the fact that it’s a complete universe away… listen, it’s not as if it’s any better or any worse for me, it’s another experience, that’s all, and how this woman deals with it. One of the things that’s so beautiful about playing her, and about watching a movie like this, is we cannot judge the outward behavior of people until we have walked in their shoes. As an actor that’s what you get to do. So the amount of sympathy that I can have for her is only because I have really considered what she has experienced. I feel changed by it, and I’m more like her now because I feel like she’s more like me now because she’s had the insights. It’s given her a greater sense of self-love, something I have the luxury to be able to access self-love because I haven’t been through the kind of shit she has.
You have a couple pivotal scenes, including one with Whoopi, one with Phylicia, one with Tessa, and they all stand out. How is working with this cast of amazing actresses?
TN: It was amazing. Working with Tessa Thompson, there was one scene where she tells me she needs some money and I figure out that she’s pregnant. I tell you it was one of those scenes where working with her and her level as an actress elevated what I was able to do. I’m so grateful for that. You’re only as good as the person you’re acting with, unless you’re one of those people that just do your own thing. I’ve worked with people who do that, and I’ve had to do that too when I’m not getting anything back from somebody. I really love collaborating, looking in someone’s eyes and actually being there in that moment. Whatever they do I do, what I do is what they do. To actually move as one. It’s knockout! It’s like being in a jazz quartet or something. You have to be so in tune with the other person, like a school of dolphins or geese flying. I tell you it’s the same, amazing, being in-synch with someone like that.
With Whoopi, I loved supporting her performance because she was so in her own trip in this movie. The fact that she hadn’t acted in a movie for 12-years, I couldn’t believe that information! She’s so prominent when I think about her and the work she’s done, from ‘Ghost’ to ‘The Color Purple.’ It was just amazing. It was such a privilege to be with her. She was like a fledgling, had the same insecurities as us and really grateful for the opportunity to do something she was proud of and bring her out of her acting retirement. I felt shame at the stuff I had to say to Phylicia, in the early days. By the end it was fun and I knew it was giving her stuff to respond to. At the beginning I did not feel comfortable telling her she was, “You fucking nasty bitch,” and all this. I’m like, “Whoa, don’t make me say that to Phylicia Rashad, please don’t make me!” (laughs) That’s what she’s supposed to be. There’s a movie called ‘Capote’ where this guy has murdered this family, and they were like, “Why did he do it?” He loved the family, they liked him very much, but he looked into the eyes of the father of the family, and the father looked at him with knowledge of who he was as if to say, “Why are you doing this?” That was why this boy killed him, ’cause he felt such shame to be looked at by someone he admired so much. That’s what Gilda makes Tangie feel, that’s why Tangie treats her with so much contempt. To have her gaze on her, with her pity, the shame she feels and she wants to destroy Gilda for what Gilda knows. Just to be looked at by someone you loved and admired so much. You picked on the right three scenes, I’ll tell you!
‘Beloved’ was so long ago, but how was it reminiscing with Kimberly?
TN: Oh my God. Kimberly is still to this day the most transcendental acting experience I’ve had. There’s one scene where the two sisters are talking about Beloved’s arrival. It was just electric. Nothing will ever reach that. Kim and I have one scene in the movie together, which I love, where I invite her to the party, and she says she doesn’t think so. It’s actually the one moment where Tangie is nurturing. I’m sure that has a little bit to do with the relationship I have with Kimberly, who is always going to be my sister for what we went through on ‘Beloved.’ It’s a peek at communication between two people who wouldn’t necessarily think are connected.
I know you have ‘Vanishing On 7th Street’ coming out at some point. What’s after that?
TN: I just wrapped a movie called ‘The Retreat,’ with Cillian Murphy and Jaime Bell. It’s a thriller. I loved it. It was a similarly intense movie. It’s three actors in one house. It was a really clever script, very tense; really character driven. I feel like I’m on a bit of a role, I’m enjoying acting and the work that’s been coming in. I’m really getting to explore characters that are more complex than of late. I often think, “What am I giving to the world? What’s my contribution?” I’m going through a period of, “Oh, I know what it is!” I don’t know what’s going to happen next, I’ll take a bit of time just to let the field lie fallow so whatever comes next I’ll be ready for. I’m pretty wrung out right now.
What keeps you grounded when you’re not doing the entertainment stuff?
TN: My husband and children. My babies. My girls. I have a ten-year-old, Ripley, and five-year-old Nico. I’m hugely fortunate that we have this little community and every moment is such a gift. Out of that I grow as a person and generate love and kindness, all those good things. As a family we allow that to go out to the world. What we do, how we teach our kids, how we communicate to other people. Each one of us, how healthy we keep ourselves and how we allow that energy to be spilled out around us. Having good, quiet times with them, teaching them about being a girl, being a woman. How to create health and happiness for all the people they come into contact with.
Filed under: Interviews
It’s been a long time since Thandie Newton appeared in an ensemble film featuring mostly females. That was 1998 and the film was Jonathan Demme’s ‘Beloved.’
Now, twelve years later, Newton gets to work with her co-star Kimberly Elise again in Tyler Perry‘s film, ‘For Colored Girls,’ an adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s legendary play.
The London, England native plays Tangie, a promiscuous bartender who’s the daughter of Whoopi Goldberg‘s character and sister of Tessa Thompson‘s character.
In speaking with Black Voices, Newton talks about coming into the project knowing very little about the legendary play, and working with Elise again.
How did you come into this play initially, and how were you asked to be part of it?
Thandie Newton: The same thing happened at the same time. Tyler called me maybe 18 months ago and told me he wanted to do this piece, and I hadn’t read it or seen it being performed. I’m English, and it’s not my world, funnily enough. That was my first introduction to the piece. I read his script first, and then I read the play. I was completely intrigued by the possibilities. I could see what he wanted to do by obviously making it more contemporary, making it more accessible to the viewer, but at the same time using the poetry. I thought it was really cool, experimental and interesting. I couldn’t think of seeing it done before. In musicals people burst into song, but this is a whole different thing. I really loved the thought of performing the poetry. It was a challenge that was going to be a difficult one. You get that wrong… these moments of poetry can either elevate the material or make it laughable. From being on the set and seeing the other actors working, I know that they will provide real moments of lucid emotion.
How would you compare this character to your other roles?
TN: I’ve had a few other roles in my career where I felt challenged, satisfied, stimulated, afraid… all those things. ‘Beloved was one, ‘Crash’ was another. I’m able to really reach the edge of an emotional capacity through the character’s experiences. It’s not for my catharsis, it’s to actually take the character on an emotional journey and make that believable and to feel and experience their lives that I had never on my own. To have a completely unique moment that I have never had in my life, and probably will never have. That is pretty out there. It’s like a feeling of being possessed by a spirit medium, like a trance state. There were times with this, probably because we shot so fast, had a grueling schedule, I get home at the end of the day and I can barely remember what I’ve done, ’cause I’ve been in a really trippy state. That’s what it feels like, acting at its most complete, for me, is I’m totally out of my own experiences. It’s like being hypnotized.
Is there anything in the character you can relate to?
TN: Nothing. No, no, no.. Oh my lord. From the childhood, parenting, social background, everything’s different, and that was why it was such a satisfying, complete form of self-hypnosis. I really absorbed myself. What would it have been like to be this girl? To be abused by your grandfather, for your mother to have allowed it to happen. Your mother has coupled with a white man so she’ll have lighter-skinned babies so the grandfather will want to have sex with them? It’s just too crazy. In a way, the fact that it’s a complete universe away… listen, it’s not as if it’s any better or any worse for me, it’s another experience, that’s all, and how this woman deals with it. One of the things that’s so beautiful about playing her, and about watching a movie like this, is we cannot judge the outward behavior of people until we have walked in their shoes. As an actor that’s what you get to do. So the amount of sympathy that I can have for her is only because I have really considered what she has experienced. I feel changed by it, and I’m more like her now because I feel like she’s more like me now because she’s had the insights. It’s given her a greater sense of self-love, something I have the luxury to be able to access self-love because I haven’t been through the kind of shit she has.
You have a couple pivotal scenes, including one with Whoopi, one with Phylicia, one with Tessa, and they all stand out. How is working with this cast of amazing actresses?
TN: It was amazing. Working with Tessa Thompson, there was one scene where she tells me she needs some money and I figure out that she’s pregnant. I tell you it was one of those scenes where working with her and her level as an actress elevated what I was able to do. I’m so grateful for that. You’re only as good as the person you’re acting with, unless you’re one of those people that just do your own thing. I’ve worked with people who do that, and I’ve had to do that too when I’m not getting anything back from somebody. I really love collaborating, looking in someone’s eyes and actually being there in that moment. Whatever they do I do, what I do is what they do. To actually move as one. It’s knockout! It’s like being in a jazz quartet or something. You have to be so in tune with the other person, like a school of dolphins or geese flying. I tell you it’s the same, amazing, being in-synch with someone like that.
With Whoopi, I loved supporting her performance because she was so in her own trip in this movie. The fact that she hadn’t acted in a movie for 12-years, I couldn’t believe that information! She’s so prominent when I think about her and the work she’s done, from ‘Ghost’ to ‘The Color Purple.’ It was just amazing. It was such a privilege to be with her. She was like a fledgling, had the same insecurities as us and really grateful for the opportunity to do something she was proud of and bring her out of her acting retirement. I felt shame at the stuff I had to say to Phylicia, in the early days. By the end it was fun and I knew it was giving her stuff to respond to. At the beginning I did not feel comfortable telling her she was, “You fucking nasty bitch,” and all this. I’m like, “Whoa, don’t make me say that to Phylicia Rashad, please don’t make me!” (laughs) That’s what she’s supposed to be. There’s a movie called ‘Capote’ where this guy has murdered this family, and they were like, “Why did he do it?” He loved the family, they liked him very much, but he looked into the eyes of the father of the family, and the father looked at him with knowledge of who he was as if to say, “Why are you doing this?” That was why this boy killed him, ’cause he felt such shame to be looked at by someone he admired so much. That’s what Gilda makes Tangie feel, that’s why Tangie treats her with so much contempt. To have her gaze on her, with her pity, the shame she feels and she wants to destroy Gilda for what Gilda knows. Just to be looked at by someone you loved and admired so much. You picked on the right three scenes, I’ll tell you!
‘Beloved’ was so long ago, but how was it reminiscing with Kimberly?
TN: Oh my God. Kimberly is still to this day the most transcendental acting experience I’ve had. There’s one scene where the two sisters are talking about Beloved’s arrival. It was just electric. Nothing will ever reach that. Kim and I have one scene in the movie together, which I love, where I invite her to the party, and she says she doesn’t think so. It’s actually the one moment where Tangie is nurturing. I’m sure that has a little bit to do with the relationship I have with Kimberly, who is always going to be my sister for what we went through on ‘Beloved.’ It’s a peek at communication between two people who wouldn’t necessarily think are connected.
I know you have ‘Vanishing On 7th Street’ coming out at some point. What’s after that?
TN: I just wrapped a movie called ‘The Retreat,’ with Cillian Murphy and Jaime Bell. It’s a thriller. I loved it. It was a similarly intense movie. It’s three actors in one house. It was a really clever script, very tense; really character driven. I feel like I’m on a bit of a role, I’m enjoying acting and the work that’s been coming in. I’m really getting to explore characters that are more complex than of late. I often think, “What am I giving to the world? What’s my contribution?” I’m going through a period of, “Oh, I know what it is!” I don’t know what’s going to happen next, I’ll take a bit of time just to let the field lie fallow so whatever comes next I’ll be ready for. I’m pretty wrung out right now.
What keeps you grounded when you’re not doing the entertainment stuff?
TN: My husband and children. My babies. My girls. I have a ten-year-old, Ripley, and five-year-old Nico. I’m hugely fortunate that we have this little community and every moment is such a gift. Out of that I grow as a person and generate love and kindness, all those good things. As a family we allow that to go out to the world. What we do, how we teach our kids, how we communicate to other people. Each one of us, how healthy we keep ourselves and how we allow that energy to be spilled out around us. Having good, quiet times with them, teaching them about being a girl, being a woman. How to create health and happiness for all the people they come into contact with.
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