Here at Dread Central we're huge Brad Anderson fans. Ever since the stellar Session 9 we've always been eager to see what this guy can cook up, and it sounds like with his new flick we could be in for a real treat!
Bloody Disgusting scored the news today that Anderson is prepping his next project titled Vanishing on 7th Street.
What's it all about, you ask? "Following a mysterious blackout, most of the population vanishes into thin air. As the remaining survivors convene in a small tavern to figure out what happened, the darkness returns to claim them one by one." Ok, we love shit like this, so we are there!
Some pretty hefty star power is aboard too -- John Leguizamo and Thandie Newton have officially signed on, and Timothy Olyphant and Forest Whitaker are in talks.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Thandie Newton: How do you feel about being mixed-race?
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:33 PM on 10th April 2009
'I met a woman in Mali who thought I couldn't carry a bucket of water on my head because I was white. I replied, 'That's really interesting because in England, where I'm from, they say I've got dark skin.'
I was born in England, but we moved to Zambia not long afterwards, where we lived until I was three, when we returned to the UK.
My dad, Nick, an artist, is British, but my mum, Nyasha, is a princess of the Shona tribe in Zimbabwe. In Britain she worked as a district nurse, but she retained that incredible African dignity and poise.
Growing up in Penzance, Cornwall, my brother, Jamie, and I were the only black children in the area.
There were the usual cruel names: big ears or big nose. And none of the boys wanted to go out with me. I don't remember any overt racism, but my mum and I have talked about this and I now know my parents kept us safe from a lot of stuff.
In some ways I'd say I come from Africa, but then I don't speak my mother's language, and in other ways I'm British through and through. I suppose I've never completely fitted in in either place.
I've never taken my husband, Ol, to Zimbabwe, or our daughters, Ripley, eight, and Nico, four. I've been waiting for the right time, but there never seems to be a right time to go to there any more.
My mum still goes back every year, and the last time I really wanted to go with her, but she's very protective and it's quite risky to travel there at the moment, so she didn't want me to come. But I want my kids to understand where they come from.
I was in Mali last year visiting some charity projects, and I met a woman who thought I couldn't carry a bucket of water on my head because I was white. I replied, 'That's really interesting because in England, where I'm from, they say I've got dark skin.'
She was amazed! So I joked, 'If you think I'm lightskinned and in England they think I'm dark-skinned, where does that leave me?' And she said, 'Well you should come and be here with me - you're in my family now.'
I thought that was lovely. There was a real feeling of being embraced, which my dad also felt when he went to Zimbabwe to ask my mother's family for her hand in marriage. Apparently, grandmother just started dancing, which is how they express joy there.
Last updated at 10:33 PM on 10th April 2009
'I met a woman in Mali who thought I couldn't carry a bucket of water on my head because I was white. I replied, 'That's really interesting because in England, where I'm from, they say I've got dark skin.'
I was born in England, but we moved to Zambia not long afterwards, where we lived until I was three, when we returned to the UK.
My dad, Nick, an artist, is British, but my mum, Nyasha, is a princess of the Shona tribe in Zimbabwe. In Britain she worked as a district nurse, but she retained that incredible African dignity and poise.
Growing up in Penzance, Cornwall, my brother, Jamie, and I were the only black children in the area.
There were the usual cruel names: big ears or big nose. And none of the boys wanted to go out with me. I don't remember any overt racism, but my mum and I have talked about this and I now know my parents kept us safe from a lot of stuff.
In some ways I'd say I come from Africa, but then I don't speak my mother's language, and in other ways I'm British through and through. I suppose I've never completely fitted in in either place.
I've never taken my husband, Ol, to Zimbabwe, or our daughters, Ripley, eight, and Nico, four. I've been waiting for the right time, but there never seems to be a right time to go to there any more.
My mum still goes back every year, and the last time I really wanted to go with her, but she's very protective and it's quite risky to travel there at the moment, so she didn't want me to come. But I want my kids to understand where they come from.
I was in Mali last year visiting some charity projects, and I met a woman who thought I couldn't carry a bucket of water on my head because I was white. I replied, 'That's really interesting because in England, where I'm from, they say I've got dark skin.'
She was amazed! So I joked, 'If you think I'm lightskinned and in England they think I'm dark-skinned, where does that leave me?' And she said, 'Well you should come and be here with me - you're in my family now.'
I thought that was lovely. There was a real feeling of being embraced, which my dad also felt when he went to Zimbabwe to ask my mother's family for her hand in marriage. Apparently, grandmother just started dancing, which is how they express joy there.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Friday, April 03, 2009
Thandie in South Africa
A CAST of A-listers from both sides of the Atlantic have helped to launch a brand new luxury hotel in South Africa.The stunning One&Only in Cape Town.
Friday, March 27, 2009
West End Cat set to get cream
DAILY MAIL ONLINE 13th March 2009
Thandie Newton is being wooed, along with Adrian Lester, to appear opposite
Broadway star James Earl Jones in a production of Tennessee Williams's steamy
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in London this autumn.
Producer Stephen C. Byrd, the New York lawyer, produced a version on Broadway
last year with Jones, a giant of the American stage.
The production also starred Anika Noni Rose, who stole the best notices from
critics; and Terrence Howard, who played Brick, the play's anti-hero (Howard
tried something different every night, which didn't help matters).
Byrd told me he was hoping to begin rehearsals in October, and open at the
Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in November.
So far, no deals have been done - nor are they close to being done, for a
while, at least.
Ms Newton's representatives said it was 'early days' and that nothing had
been decided about her playing Maggie (the Cat of the title), a role made
famous on the big screen by Elizabeth Taylor.
Likewise with Mr Lester, who was far away from confirming he would be in
the play as the alcoholic and 'confused' Brick. Debbie Allen hopes to direct
in London, as she did on Broadway, although different sets would be used and,
it is hoped, the running time would be shorter.
But Mr Byrd was most confident of what he called 'the event' happening.
So much so that he was already looking round apartments he hoped to rent for
Mr Jones.
Byrd gained permission to cast the Williams play with non traditional actors
- ie, black.
'It's a dysfunctional family - it's universal! They don't have to be white,'
Byrd argued.Equally, he wants audiences of all shades to see it.
But a few deals have to be signed first - particularly with the Haymarket,
which may decide to extend Waiting For Godot, which has a £1 million plus
advance and is packing them in on tour before it comes into town.
Byrd said last night that he will go to another theatre if the Haymarket is unavailable.
And he has other actresses in mind if Ms Newton is too busy.
Thandie Newton is being wooed, along with Adrian Lester, to appear opposite
Broadway star James Earl Jones in a production of Tennessee Williams's steamy
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in London this autumn.
Producer Stephen C. Byrd, the New York lawyer, produced a version on Broadway
last year with Jones, a giant of the American stage.
The production also starred Anika Noni Rose, who stole the best notices from
critics; and Terrence Howard, who played Brick, the play's anti-hero (Howard
tried something different every night, which didn't help matters).
Byrd told me he was hoping to begin rehearsals in October, and open at the
Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in November.
So far, no deals have been done - nor are they close to being done, for a
while, at least.
Ms Newton's representatives said it was 'early days' and that nothing had
been decided about her playing Maggie (the Cat of the title), a role made
famous on the big screen by Elizabeth Taylor.
Likewise with Mr Lester, who was far away from confirming he would be in
the play as the alcoholic and 'confused' Brick. Debbie Allen hopes to direct
in London, as she did on Broadway, although different sets would be used and,
it is hoped, the running time would be shorter.
But Mr Byrd was most confident of what he called 'the event' happening.
So much so that he was already looking round apartments he hoped to rent for
Mr Jones.
Byrd gained permission to cast the Williams play with non traditional actors
- ie, black.
'It's a dysfunctional family - it's universal! They don't have to be white,'
Byrd argued.Equally, he wants audiences of all shades to see it.
But a few deals have to be signed first - particularly with the Haymarket,
which may decide to extend Waiting For Godot, which has a £1 million plus
advance and is packing them in on tour before it comes into town.
Byrd said last night that he will go to another theatre if the Haymarket is unavailable.
And he has other actresses in mind if Ms Newton is too busy.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thandie in Paris
Mary McCartney, Beth Ditto, Thandie Newton, Paul McCartney, his girlfriend Nancy Shevell, Charlotte Casiraghi, Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault attending the Stella McCartney Fall-Winter 2009-2010 ready-to-wear collection show held at the Carreau du Temple in Paris, France. Photograph: Thierry Orban/EMPICS
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Rachael Ray Show
Thandie Newton felt like she was back in college taking a political science class as she spent six weeks preparing for the role of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Oliver Stone's new movie W. "I went through everything. YouTube, Wikipedia, Amazon.com," Thandie recalls about her research. "I had so much work to do. My posture - the way I held my neck, my shoulders - everything was different."
She plays a very different kind of powerful woman in Guy Ritchie's new film RocknRolla, in which she depicts a crooked accountant who manipulates a group of reckless criminals. "The movie is just peppered with characters that you've never seen before. Unique, hilarious, crazy and it's a group of criminals basically who are all being maneuvered by me," Thandie says. She's certainly no stranger to big personalities, having previously shared the screen with Tom Cruise and Will Smith. "You go to work with – the roster!" Rachael notes. "Your husband must not have a jealous bone in his body." Thandie blushes a bit and sweetly says, "We have a good thing going."
source http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/thandie-newton/
Next up, it’s Thandie Newton at the kitchen table, who has two movies out right now. She plays Condoleezza Rice in the new Oliver Stone movie W, as well as a powerufl woman in Guy Ritchie (the future x-Mr. Madonna)’’s RocknRolla. When told that Thandie is glowing and beautiful - she says that it’s because her husband is backstage, and the lunch was wonderful in the green room.
When asked how long she worked to become Condy Rice - it was an hour and a half in makeup, but there was alot of preparation and research before hand, for about six weeks. She did everything - Youtube, Wikipedia, Amazon, plus recordings of her when she didn’t know she was being watched. That’s how she discovered the postuer, the way she holds her neck, her shoulders, everything was different.
The movie is an overlap of familiar moments, with an Oliver Stone backstory, with all the moments in between. You’d expect it to be heightened, being Oliver Stone directed, but there was so much story there, it’s really quite simply what happened.
In RocknRolla, a movie on the totally opposite side of the spectrum, with a group of unique hilarious crazy characters, a bunch of criminals that she manipulates as their accountant.
She talks about her kids - Ripley is named for Ripley in Aliens, absolutely! Because she was absolutely amazing, and the other girl’s name is Mika. She admits that when she’s away, her husband lets them eat pizza in bed in the middle of the night!
She’s also worked with some of the big wigs. Of Tom Cruise, she says he’s lovely, and she’s never met anyone who tries harder to be a good person. Will Smith is “Ok, Willard.” He’s they type who would just invite you over to bbq. She declares herself very lucky to have worked with all of them. Her husband is extremely supportive, even with the group of hotties she gets to work with, and says Thandie “We have a good thing.”
http://www.watchingrachaelray.com/italian-style-family-showdown/
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Elle Style Awards 2009
Mickey Rourke and Thandie Newton pose in the press room after she presented him with his best actor award at The Elle Style Awards 2009
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Baftas London 8th February 2009
8.30pm: Dress and a half on Thandie Newton. Shame she's reading out the blurb for first time film-makers. Isn't that meant to be the idea of actors: you can remember the lines?
Man on Wire a leftfield nomination but a good un. But the smart money has to be on Steve McQueen for Hunger.
from the Guardian live blog
Best laugh of the night comes when Ross introduces presenter Thandie Newton by referring to her “uncanny” performance as Condoleezza Rice in “W.” I don’t think he meant it as a joke, but I’m still wiping the tears from my face. Onto happier, and more serious, matters, McQueen (nattily dressed, I must say) wins and justice is done. Hooray!
http://www.incontention.com/?p=4419
Thursday, January 22, 2009
new pictures
Sunday Times Style London recently invited Jon to shoot the beautiful Thandie Newton. The jewelry was by Solange Azagury Partridge. For those of you who don’t know, Jon is based in Paris now, just a short skip to London and New York (or China or Singapore for that matter…)
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thandie interviewed in FT
Thandie Newton
November 8 2008
Actress Thandie Newton, 36, has starred in the television show ER and several films, including the Oscar-winning Crash (2005). She is an ambassador of Volvic and World Vision's campaign (www.volvic1for10.co.uk), for which Volvic supplies 10 litres of drinking water in Africa for every litre of Volvic bought in the UK. Newton stars in W , which opens this weekend in the UK.
What is the first charity you can remember supporting?
When I was 11, I became vegetarian, and sent my pocket money to the League Against Cruel Sports.
As I've got older and become exposed to person to person violence, my focus has changed from animal to human rights.
Fame is the toxic by-product of an acting career, but if I can use it for good, I'd rather raise awareness of human rights issues. Humans are going to destroy the world before animals do. I gave up vegetarianism when I was 21.
Which cause do you feel most passionately about?
In general, it's about protecting children and innocence. I'm working with Volvic because they've wisely chosen to support World Vision - a brilliantly constructed and very effective organisation that is not well enough known in the UK.
Are you concerned that bottled water is an environmentally damaging, unnecessary product?
Yes. I went in with that attitude. I wanted to see if my cynical view could be changed, and World Vision did change it.
Bottled water isn't going to go away and so I'd rather there was a brand that donates large sums of money to genuinely valuable causes, and which creates philanthropic competition between brands. I'm not a blinkered purist. I know that by infiltrating these large corporations, I'm in a much better position to suggest changes. Right now, for example, I'm encouraging Volvic to switch to biodegradable containers.
Is it more important to give time than money?
It's both; they create each other. Personally, my time has a very high value, because I'm going to generate a much larger audience.
What do you get out of your giving?
Knowledge. For a while now, I've been wondering if my job contributes anything to the health of the planet, or whether entertainment just dumbs people down, keeps them indoors and stops them from looking at the world and themselves.
With the knowledge gained from charity work, it makes it much more difficult to ignore what needs to be done, and I'm compelled to talk to people about it, talk to my children about it, talk to my children's school about it . . . and as a result, perhaps give more value to my acting career and its by-product of fame.
Is there a duty to use fame for good causes?
It's not a duty, but most celebrities do it, and that's what makes it such a beautiful thing.
Interview by Angus Watson
howtogiveit@ft.com
November 8 2008
Actress Thandie Newton, 36, has starred in the television show ER and several films, including the Oscar-winning Crash (2005). She is an ambassador of Volvic and World Vision's campaign (www.volvic1for10.co.uk), for which Volvic supplies 10 litres of drinking water in Africa for every litre of Volvic bought in the UK. Newton stars in W , which opens this weekend in the UK.
What is the first charity you can remember supporting?
When I was 11, I became vegetarian, and sent my pocket money to the League Against Cruel Sports.
As I've got older and become exposed to person to person violence, my focus has changed from animal to human rights.
Fame is the toxic by-product of an acting career, but if I can use it for good, I'd rather raise awareness of human rights issues. Humans are going to destroy the world before animals do. I gave up vegetarianism when I was 21.
Which cause do you feel most passionately about?
In general, it's about protecting children and innocence. I'm working with Volvic because they've wisely chosen to support World Vision - a brilliantly constructed and very effective organisation that is not well enough known in the UK.
Are you concerned that bottled water is an environmentally damaging, unnecessary product?
Yes. I went in with that attitude. I wanted to see if my cynical view could be changed, and World Vision did change it.
Bottled water isn't going to go away and so I'd rather there was a brand that donates large sums of money to genuinely valuable causes, and which creates philanthropic competition between brands. I'm not a blinkered purist. I know that by infiltrating these large corporations, I'm in a much better position to suggest changes. Right now, for example, I'm encouraging Volvic to switch to biodegradable containers.
Is it more important to give time than money?
It's both; they create each other. Personally, my time has a very high value, because I'm going to generate a much larger audience.
What do you get out of your giving?
Knowledge. For a while now, I've been wondering if my job contributes anything to the health of the planet, or whether entertainment just dumbs people down, keeps them indoors and stops them from looking at the world and themselves.
With the knowledge gained from charity work, it makes it much more difficult to ignore what needs to be done, and I'm compelled to talk to people about it, talk to my children about it, talk to my children's school about it . . . and as a result, perhaps give more value to my acting career and its by-product of fame.
Is there a duty to use fame for good causes?
It's not a duty, but most celebrities do it, and that's what makes it such a beautiful thing.
Interview by Angus Watson
howtogiveit@ft.com
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/comment/article/143230
Be very quiet, I'm hunting stars
Hollywood North by Andrea Woo
November 19, 2008 11:47
It is star-hunting season and the prey is plentiful. In the past couple of weeks alone, the following were spotted traipsing around town: Julie Andrews, The Rock and Stephen Merchant (all here filming Tooth Fairy) at the Sutton Hotel, the Steve Nash Sports Club and the Blue Water Café, respectively; Halle Berry, Montreal-born model boyfriend Gabriel Aubry and their daughter Nahla having lunch at the Cactus Club Café in Yaletown; Amanda Peet (filming apocalyptic thriller 2012) and Phil Morris (Smallville) dining separately at the Blue Water Café and Thandie Newton (also 2012) at the Scotiabank Theatre.
Hollywood North by Andrea Woo
November 19, 2008 11:47
It is star-hunting season and the prey is plentiful. In the past couple of weeks alone, the following were spotted traipsing around town: Julie Andrews, The Rock and Stephen Merchant (all here filming Tooth Fairy) at the Sutton Hotel, the Steve Nash Sports Club and the Blue Water Café, respectively; Halle Berry, Montreal-born model boyfriend Gabriel Aubry and their daughter Nahla having lunch at the Cactus Club Café in Yaletown; Amanda Peet (filming apocalyptic thriller 2012) and Phil Morris (Smallville) dining separately at the Blue Water Café and Thandie Newton (also 2012) at the Scotiabank Theatre.
Thandie Newton To Star In 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton To Star In 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'
Posted Nov 19th 2008 9:10AM by Wilson Morales
Initially reported by BlackVoices two months ago as something that was in development, producer Stephen Byrd has confirmed that Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton will play the roles of Brick and Maggie the Cat, respectively, in the London theater production of 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'.
Debbie Allen will again direct the play, and James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad will travel overseas and reprise their roles as Big Daddy and Big Mama.
Posted Nov 19th 2008 9:10AM by Wilson Morales
Initially reported by BlackVoices two months ago as something that was in development, producer Stephen Byrd has confirmed that Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton will play the roles of Brick and Maggie the Cat, respectively, in the London theater production of 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'.
Debbie Allen will again direct the play, and James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad will travel overseas and reprise their roles as Big Daddy and Big Mama.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Thandie Newton: 'Condi was my hardest role ever'
Bafta winner Thandie Newton's latest role sees her playing Condoleezza Rice in Oliver Stone's George Bush biopic 'W' – but don't expect to see a lookalike, she tells Sian Lewis
Friday, 31 October 2008 The Independent Newspaper
Thandie Newton has a knack of always looking at ease on the red carpet.
Her former dancer's figure is perfect for couture and she regularly eschews the services of a stylist, preferring instead to choose her own dresses by more obscure designers such as Jonathan Saunders and Jasmine de Milo.
Yet, despite the frequency with which she graces best-dressed lists, Newton doesn't want to be known for her looks. She is one of those actresses who seems to be running from her appearance, trying to lose herself in serious roles that prove she can act. And she's certainly made some varied choices.
Yes, she was the sexy accountant in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla, the love interest in last year's Brit comedy Run Fat Boy Run, but she also played Will Smith's harried wife in The Pursuit of Happyness, won a Bafta for her raw portrayal of sexual assault in Crash, and now she's Condoleezza Rice in the George Bush biopic, W.
But, try as she might, Newton can't escape that she is stunningly beautiful. Having spent five days in Africa with her earlier this year, I can testify that even after a sleepless night, hours on dusty roads and without make-up, she's quite simply one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen. Huge eyes grace a flawless face, and her frame is so slight you wonder how she managed to produce two children.
This makes her even more of a surprising choice to play the US Secretary of State, alongside Josh Brolin's George Bush. Rice may be accomplished in many fields, but she's hardly known as a great beauty. And, if the blogs are to be believed, there were many American actresses clamouring for the part.
"When director Oliver Stone first approached me I knew nothing about Condi," she says, sipping tea in the kitchen of the north London house she shares with her husband, the writer and director Ol Parker, 38, and their two daughters Ripley, seven, and Nico, three.
"Obviously I'd seen her on the news but I didn't even know how many z's she had in her name. I felt sheer terror about whether I could actually unlock the character. She's right there on our TV screens. Everyone knows how she moves, how she speaks. And I am nothing like her. It's the most terrifying role I've had and that fear made me feel very alive.."
The 35-year-old actress says she used the research skills honed during her anthropology degree at Cambridge to study for the character.
"It felt like doing a PhD," she laughs. "I read everything I could on Abu Ghraib, Bush, the war on terror. I watched endless DVDs of Condi giving speeches while moving my face in front of a mirror. I wanted to capture her mannerisms. If you get that right it doesn't matter whether you look like the person you're playing, you will feel familiar to the audience."
And looking like Rice wasn't an option because the heat in Shreveport, Louisiana, where filming took place during the summer of 2008, meant any prosthetic make-up would simply melt. This simply added to Newton's terror. "Just six weeks before filming started, Oliver told me he wanted a feelalike not a lookalike, and I just didn't know if I could do that."
So Newton worked with fashion make-up artist Kay Montano to subtly change her looks, unleashed a dynamic speech-giving voice through work with coach Joan Washington, and even learned to play piano – although those scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.
"It's ironic that I put in all those hours of piano practice to have the scenes cut," says Newton. "But in a way that was good for the part, too. It was a discipline and Condi is a very disciplined woman."
However, Newton reveals that she felt disappointed when she saw the rushes. "I'd gone to such lengths to create this person, like crafting a sculpture, that I kind of expected to see her there on the screen."
So, what does she make of bringing such current events to the screen?
"Playing Condi is my contribution to human rights," says Newton, half-sarcastically. "It's audacious to make a film about events so recent, but we live in a society where challenging the way things are is, thankfully, a part of our lives. Oliver is a director who likes to do that. I'd never worked with him before and it's amazing that he simply lets you go out and play."
After a role which she says "made every ounce of my being sit up and work", her next project was always going to feel dull in comparison. Newton admits this was the case with 2012, a film about an academic battling to prevent an apocalypse predicted by ancient Mayans, in which she plays the president's daughter.
"It didn't help that work started on 2012 so soon after finishing W," she says. "I'd shot my last scene as Condi, then days later I'm stood in a different Oval Office playing the president's daughter. That was such a headfuck! You really need to lay low before you plant the seeds of a new character."
Even A-list actresses, it seems, need to think practically and take big budget roles when they're offered them. But in Newton's case, family life has often taken priority over career. Just as Hollywood had fallen head over heels for her sassy turn alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II, Newton famously turned down a role in Charlie's Angels to spend more time with her husband of 11 years. She quit her agent and her manager and seemed to turn her back on stardom. Within weeks she was pregnant with her first daughter. Since then, she has run her career on her own terms. This means working around her family, who spent six weeks with her in Vancouver during summer while she worked on 2012. "We had a blast," she says. "Playing on the beach, eating oysters."
It also means applying a calm, calculated logic to choosing roles. "You should see the mental gymnastics Ol and I go through when I'm trying to decide what to take," she says. "Which roles will be good financially, which will be good for my career so I can keep doing this. I've got to make the right choices to stay in the game – I don't want anyone to get sick of me." This is unlikely as Newton, who got her first break at 16 starring opposite Nicole Kidman in Flirting, has been working solidly since leaving school, without anyone ever feeling they've seen too much of her.
When she's not working, Newton "nourishes her soul" with personal projects. She originally trained as a dancer and talks of going back to it professionally. She's written a screenplay – which she insists will never see the light of day – and has plans to open a children's boutique with a friend. It's exhausting listening to Newton talk, and you wonder if she somehow magically creates more hours in her day. At the same time, she also reveals her down-to-earth side and the kind of insecurities that the rest of us have. "I want to do everything now. I'm prone to anxiety and depression, I moan about having too much work, about how tired I've been with all the travel to promote W, about being away from my kids..." She checks herself for a moment, before adding: "Talk about high class problems! My mum grew up with no bathroom or toilet and she didn't own a pair of shoes until she was 10!"
Much has been written about Newton's African heritage. In fact, she was born in England, then lived in Zambia with her Zimbabwean mother and English father until political unrest drove them back to the UK when Newton was three. She hadn't been back to Africa for "many years, too many" until this February when she travelled to Mali with the charity World Vision to see their well building projects. The trip awakened her love of Africa. "It also made me feel ashamed of how little I live life," she says. "There's this sluggishness because we have everything we need. Although we rarely think we do. The people I met in Mali are so much more alive than we can ever be. I want to help them in my own small way. One of the only good things about 'celebrity' is being able to use it well."
Newton uses the word "celebrity" carefully. Almost turning it over in her mouth and mind. She may be one of Britain's most successful actresses, and wants to remain so, but the idea of becoming a household name clearly doesn't appeal greatly.
Suddenly voices in the hall signal the return of her daughters. "Well hello there, what would like for lunch?" she asks them. "Shall I make you a risotto? Or would you prefer crackers and fruit?" And with that Newton's gone, deep into another role. Her favourite to date.
'W' opens on 7 November; for more information on Thandie Newton's work with World Vision visit www.volvic1for10.co.uk or www.worldvision.org
Friday, 31 October 2008 The Independent Newspaper
Thandie Newton has a knack of always looking at ease on the red carpet.
Her former dancer's figure is perfect for couture and she regularly eschews the services of a stylist, preferring instead to choose her own dresses by more obscure designers such as Jonathan Saunders and Jasmine de Milo.
Yet, despite the frequency with which she graces best-dressed lists, Newton doesn't want to be known for her looks. She is one of those actresses who seems to be running from her appearance, trying to lose herself in serious roles that prove she can act. And she's certainly made some varied choices.
Yes, she was the sexy accountant in Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla, the love interest in last year's Brit comedy Run Fat Boy Run, but she also played Will Smith's harried wife in The Pursuit of Happyness, won a Bafta for her raw portrayal of sexual assault in Crash, and now she's Condoleezza Rice in the George Bush biopic, W.
But, try as she might, Newton can't escape that she is stunningly beautiful. Having spent five days in Africa with her earlier this year, I can testify that even after a sleepless night, hours on dusty roads and without make-up, she's quite simply one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen. Huge eyes grace a flawless face, and her frame is so slight you wonder how she managed to produce two children.
This makes her even more of a surprising choice to play the US Secretary of State, alongside Josh Brolin's George Bush. Rice may be accomplished in many fields, but she's hardly known as a great beauty. And, if the blogs are to be believed, there were many American actresses clamouring for the part.
"When director Oliver Stone first approached me I knew nothing about Condi," she says, sipping tea in the kitchen of the north London house she shares with her husband, the writer and director Ol Parker, 38, and their two daughters Ripley, seven, and Nico, three.
"Obviously I'd seen her on the news but I didn't even know how many z's she had in her name. I felt sheer terror about whether I could actually unlock the character. She's right there on our TV screens. Everyone knows how she moves, how she speaks. And I am nothing like her. It's the most terrifying role I've had and that fear made me feel very alive.."
The 35-year-old actress says she used the research skills honed during her anthropology degree at Cambridge to study for the character.
"It felt like doing a PhD," she laughs. "I read everything I could on Abu Ghraib, Bush, the war on terror. I watched endless DVDs of Condi giving speeches while moving my face in front of a mirror. I wanted to capture her mannerisms. If you get that right it doesn't matter whether you look like the person you're playing, you will feel familiar to the audience."
And looking like Rice wasn't an option because the heat in Shreveport, Louisiana, where filming took place during the summer of 2008, meant any prosthetic make-up would simply melt. This simply added to Newton's terror. "Just six weeks before filming started, Oliver told me he wanted a feelalike not a lookalike, and I just didn't know if I could do that."
So Newton worked with fashion make-up artist Kay Montano to subtly change her looks, unleashed a dynamic speech-giving voice through work with coach Joan Washington, and even learned to play piano – although those scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.
"It's ironic that I put in all those hours of piano practice to have the scenes cut," says Newton. "But in a way that was good for the part, too. It was a discipline and Condi is a very disciplined woman."
However, Newton reveals that she felt disappointed when she saw the rushes. "I'd gone to such lengths to create this person, like crafting a sculpture, that I kind of expected to see her there on the screen."
So, what does she make of bringing such current events to the screen?
"Playing Condi is my contribution to human rights," says Newton, half-sarcastically. "It's audacious to make a film about events so recent, but we live in a society where challenging the way things are is, thankfully, a part of our lives. Oliver is a director who likes to do that. I'd never worked with him before and it's amazing that he simply lets you go out and play."
After a role which she says "made every ounce of my being sit up and work", her next project was always going to feel dull in comparison. Newton admits this was the case with 2012, a film about an academic battling to prevent an apocalypse predicted by ancient Mayans, in which she plays the president's daughter.
"It didn't help that work started on 2012 so soon after finishing W," she says. "I'd shot my last scene as Condi, then days later I'm stood in a different Oval Office playing the president's daughter. That was such a headfuck! You really need to lay low before you plant the seeds of a new character."
Even A-list actresses, it seems, need to think practically and take big budget roles when they're offered them. But in Newton's case, family life has often taken priority over career. Just as Hollywood had fallen head over heels for her sassy turn alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II, Newton famously turned down a role in Charlie's Angels to spend more time with her husband of 11 years. She quit her agent and her manager and seemed to turn her back on stardom. Within weeks she was pregnant with her first daughter. Since then, she has run her career on her own terms. This means working around her family, who spent six weeks with her in Vancouver during summer while she worked on 2012. "We had a blast," she says. "Playing on the beach, eating oysters."
It also means applying a calm, calculated logic to choosing roles. "You should see the mental gymnastics Ol and I go through when I'm trying to decide what to take," she says. "Which roles will be good financially, which will be good for my career so I can keep doing this. I've got to make the right choices to stay in the game – I don't want anyone to get sick of me." This is unlikely as Newton, who got her first break at 16 starring opposite Nicole Kidman in Flirting, has been working solidly since leaving school, without anyone ever feeling they've seen too much of her.
When she's not working, Newton "nourishes her soul" with personal projects. She originally trained as a dancer and talks of going back to it professionally. She's written a screenplay – which she insists will never see the light of day – and has plans to open a children's boutique with a friend. It's exhausting listening to Newton talk, and you wonder if she somehow magically creates more hours in her day. At the same time, she also reveals her down-to-earth side and the kind of insecurities that the rest of us have. "I want to do everything now. I'm prone to anxiety and depression, I moan about having too much work, about how tired I've been with all the travel to promote W, about being away from my kids..." She checks herself for a moment, before adding: "Talk about high class problems! My mum grew up with no bathroom or toilet and she didn't own a pair of shoes until she was 10!"
Much has been written about Newton's African heritage. In fact, she was born in England, then lived in Zambia with her Zimbabwean mother and English father until political unrest drove them back to the UK when Newton was three. She hadn't been back to Africa for "many years, too many" until this February when she travelled to Mali with the charity World Vision to see their well building projects. The trip awakened her love of Africa. "It also made me feel ashamed of how little I live life," she says. "There's this sluggishness because we have everything we need. Although we rarely think we do. The people I met in Mali are so much more alive than we can ever be. I want to help them in my own small way. One of the only good things about 'celebrity' is being able to use it well."
Newton uses the word "celebrity" carefully. Almost turning it over in her mouth and mind. She may be one of Britain's most successful actresses, and wants to remain so, but the idea of becoming a household name clearly doesn't appeal greatly.
Suddenly voices in the hall signal the return of her daughters. "Well hello there, what would like for lunch?" she asks them. "Shall I make you a risotto? Or would you prefer crackers and fruit?" And with that Newton's gone, deep into another role. Her favourite to date.
'W' opens on 7 November; for more information on Thandie Newton's work with World Vision visit www.volvic1for10.co.uk or www.worldvision.org
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