Thandiwe Newton said she wants to apologize to "darker-skinned actresses."- Newton said it's "painful" to feel that she is "not representing" actresses who are "darker-skinned."
Thandiwe Newton recently said she wants to "apologize every day to darker-skinned actresses" for not representing them during a tearful interview on Sky News.
Newton appeared on the British broadcaster to discuss her new film "God's Country," which is an adaptation of a short story by author James Lee Burke. The film, however, switches the main character in the story from an older white man to a Black woman.
The 49-year-old actress told Sky News that she was hesitant to join the film because she feared she wasn't dark-skinned enough for the role.
"My internalized prejudice was stopping me from feeling like I could play this role when it's precisely that prejudice that I've received," she told Sky News. "Doesn't matter that it's from African-American women more than anyone else, doesn't matter. I received prejudice. Anyone who's received oppression and prejudice feels this character."
The "Westworld" star continued that she frequently wants to apologize to "darker-skinned actresses" for the opportunities she's offered.
"I'm sorry that I'm the one chosen. My mama looks like you. My mom looks like you," she said as she began to cry. "It's been very painful to have women look like my mum feel like I'm not representing them — that I'm taking from them, taking their men, taking their work, taking their truth. I didn't mean to."
"God's Country" is the first time Newton will use her birth name, Thandiwe, after decades of using the name Thandie in Hollywood.
In the May 2021 cover story of British Vogue, the 49-year-old actress told writer Diana Evans the true spelling of her first name and announced that going forward, she will be credited with the correct spelling. Newton explained that the "w" in her first name was carelessly left out of her first acting credit.
"That's my name," she told British Vogue, which noted that Thandiwe means "beloved" in Shona — an African language that is primarily spoken in Zimbabwe. "It's always been my name. I'm taking back what's mine."
"God's Country" debuted at the Sundance film festival. The film currently has no release date.