Alerts & Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thandie Newton: ‘I Wasn’t Hot Enough’ to Participate in #TimesUp

The "Westworld" star says she wasn't a big enough name for the movement.
Thandie Newton
Thandie Newton
Chelsea Lauren/Variety/REX/Shutterstock

A great many actors, directors, and producers took part in the unveiling of #TimesUp, from Brie Larson and Kerry Washington to Shonda Rhimes and Emma Stone. One woman who wasn’t involved is Thandie Newton, who as a teenager was sexually abused by a casting director. In a Daily Telegraph interview, the “Westworld” actress describes this exclusion as “very painful” — especially since she thinks it’s because she “wasn’t hot enough.”

She’s referring to the state of her career rather than her looks, but still: “I wasn’t mainstream enough and I wasn’t going to be at the Oscars this year, even though I am having a renaissance in my career,” Newton adds. The movement and its message are especially important to her not only because of her own experiences, but because she hopes other young women could learn from them. “I felt if there was one girl whose family was thinking about putting their child into show business, that would help them decide. That was all I cared about,” she says.

In addition to “Westworld,” whose second season premieres tonight on HBO, Newton will next be seen in “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and Xavier Dolan’s “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.”

Daily Headlines
Daily Headlines covering Film, TV and more.

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Must Read
PMC Logo
IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 IndieWire Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.