What is Thandie Newton’s Zimbabwean birth name?
HOLLYWOOD actress Thandie Newton will now be using her Zimbabwean name in all future projects.
The star decided to amend her name in her work after claiming that she wants to “take back what’s mine.”
What is Thandie Newton’s Zimbabwean birth name?
Thandie Newton’s birth name is Thandiwe Newton, which directly translates to “beloved” in Shona.
She had been known as Thandie in Hollywood after her name was misspelled in the first credit she received.
Newton addressed her name change in Vogue, saying: “That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine.
“The thing I’m most grateful for in our business right now is being in the company of others who truly see me.
Adding: “And to not be complicit in the objectification of Black people as ‘others’, which is what happens when you’re the only one.”
What did Thandie Newton say about her name?
Newton discussed in the interview with Vogue that she faced uncomfortable situations in the film industry regarding her race and identity.
The actress said that a South African Hollywood Foreign Press Association journalist asked her during the release for “Beloved,” “Will you sign my magazine in African?”
She also claimed to have quit Charlie’s Angels after Amy Pascal, former head of Sony Pictures, allegedly made a racist comment about a black female character being as attractive but not college-educated.
However, Pascal claims she does not recall the remark, according to Vogue.
Newton dished to Vogue about her experience, saying: “I have a seventh sense for abuse and abusers, which I believe is one of the reasons why I was rejected a lot in Hollywood.
“I’ll talk about it until the cows come home, because I know I’ll be helping someone.”
Is Thandie Newton from Zimbabwe?
Newton was born in the UK at London’s Charing Cross hospital in November 1972.
She spent the first three years of her life in Zambia, which is located in East Africa.
However, her mother, Nyasha is Zimbabwean.
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Newton’s mother is a princess of the Shona tribe, from what was then Southern Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe.
According to Daily Mail reports, Nyasha’s full maiden name is Grace Nyasha Jombe.
Nyasha moved to London in 1966, and was a nurse at Bexley Hospital, a psychiatric institution in Kent.