Taking back Thandiwe

British actress Thandie Newton is reverting to the correct spelling of her name, Thandiwe, after decades in Hollywood, she said in a new interview with Vogue that was released this week.

Newtwon, the daughter of a British laboratory technician and a Zimbabwean princess, said the spelling of her name which means “beloved” in Shona got changed in the credits for her first acting role, in 1991’s Flirting, when she was just 16.

Now, the Westworld star said, she is changing it back. ”That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine,” she was quoted as telling the British magazine. Newton, who has long been an advocate for women and survivors of sexual violence, has been outspoken about racist and sexual abuse in Hollywood.

In the Vogue interview Newton said Flirting director John Duigan asked her to “be a bit darker” for the role, and repeated allegations the then-39-yearold embarked on what she previously described as a “coerced” sexual relationship with her.

She recalled other incidents of racism and sexual abuse, including a director who abused her and then showed footage of it to others. “I was traumatised,” she told the magazine. And she spoke frankly about her battles with an eating disorder.

”Black women are truly the nexus where all of this overlaps,” she said. “Think of what else has the potential to heal if we support and care for black women.” –

Black women are truly the nexus where all of this happens.

Thandiwe Newton