Thandie Newton
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Thandie Newton (born November 6, 1972) is a British actress.
Born Thandiwe Newton in Zambia, to a Zimbabwean mother and an English father. She was raised in Zambia and Cornwall, England, and educated at Downing College, Cambridge. Her mother is a princess of the Shona tribe.
Newton made her film début in Flirting (1991) and gained international recognition opposite Nick Nolte in the film Jefferson in Paris that led to her being cast in 1998's Beloved, (alongside Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey), where she played the title character. She was also in the movie Mission: Impossible II as Nyah Hall, the love interest of Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt and was signed to appear in the film version of Charlie's Angels but when the Mission: Impossible film went over schedule she lost the other part. Newton recently plays Kem, the love interest of Dr. John Carter, on the American television series ER, and also appeared in The Chronicles of Riddick.
Newton married film writer Oliver Parker in 1998. The couple has a daughter, Ripley, born in 2000.
Trivia
- The name "Thandiwe" means "beloved" in Zulu. Thandie Newton played a character named "Beloved" in the film adaptation of the Toni Morrison novel Beloved in 1998.
- Her daughter was named in honor of the character Ripley of the Alien films.
- She is great friends with Nicole Kidman, and Kidman recommended her then-husband Tom Cruise to give Thandie a part opposite him in Mission: Impossible II.