Thandiwe ‘urged to seek help over her film set walkout, erratic behaviour and marriage split’
THANDIWE Newton has been urged to seek help by colleagues who have become increasingly concerned about her behaviour, according to reports.
The 49-year-old actress threw production on the film Magic Mike’s Last Dance into chaos last week after she dramatically quit midway through the project.
She is believed to be struggling amid reports that she has separated from Ol Parker, 52, her husband of 24 years, with whom she has three children.
‘Thandiwe had been acting strange on set, she has been very highly strung,’ a source told celebrity gossip website Page Six. ‘it caused so much disruption, it became clear she couldn’t play the role. There is a lot going on in her personal life. She and her husband have separated.
‘She seemed so stressed, she even brought her two pet rabbits to her hotel for emotional support.’
The source added that Miss Newton fired her UK agent of three decades, and that her US agent Gaby Morgerman flew to London, where filming was taking place, from Los Angeles to try to diffuse the situation. The source said Miss Newton’s team want her to get support. it comes days after it was reported that the Line of Duty actress was fired from Magic Mike’s Last Dance, the third film in the franchise, after a row with co-star Channing Tatum. it was claimed they had an ‘unimaginably vicious’ argument over Will Smith’s behaviour at the Oscars – Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage after he made a joke about Smith’s wife.
An unnamed crew member told The Sun: ‘They fell out over the debacle at the Oscars. it was a tense exchange of words, but suddenly it escalated – Channing got into this car and he disappeared.’
A representative for Miss Newton, who last year reverted back to the African spelling of her name after being known as Thandie, strongly denied the claims that she was fired or that there had been a row with Tatum, describing them as ‘completely inaccurate’.
A Warner Bros spokesman said: ‘Thandiwe Newton has made the difficult decision to step away from the production of Warner Bros Pictures’ Magic Mike’s Last Dance to deal with family matters.’
She has been replaced by Salma Hayek and the scenes starring Miss Newton will have to be reshot.
Miss Newton and Parker, a director, producer and screenwriter, married in 1998 after working together on the set of in Your Dreams, which he wrote. They share daughters Ripley, 21, and Nico, 17, and son Booker Jombe, eight.