She may have been Thandie Newton to her fans for decades but the ‘Westworld’ star is taking back her name to reveal the correct spelling and there’s no going back.
It’s Melanie Thandiwe Newton and its pronounced ‘tan-dee-way’. The Hollywood actress revealed this detail in an interview with British Vogue while also explaining that it was a spelling error in the 1991 film ‘Flirting’ that saw her stuck with the spelling for more than 30 years.
“The thing I’m most grateful for in our business right now is being in the company of others who truly see me,” said Newton in the interview with British Vogue. “And to not be complicit in the objectification of Black people as ‘others’, which is what happens when you’re the only one.”
“That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine,” Newton added.
In the same interview, Newton also spoke up about the backlash she had received in 2016 for revealing she had been a victim of sexual misconduct at 16. The 48-year-old star had revealed earlier that a director had filmed up her skirt during an audition and had shown the video to his friends.
“He derailed me from myself utterly,” she told British Vogue. “I was traumatised. It was a kind of PTSD for sure. I was so distraught and appalled that a director had abused a young actress, and that it was happening elsewhere, minors getting abused and how [expletive] up it was. I was basically waiting for someone to come along and say, ‘Well, what shall we do about this?’”
