Take care what you say. Should I say it softly? So it sounds more like conspiracy?

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (2004) dir. David Twohy

Thandie Newton for Marie Claire Magazine, May 2019

The [Maeve] character’s arc hit close to home for Newton, who is a survivor of sexual abuse. One experience, which occurred when she was 22 and which she’s brought up in interviews over the years, involved an unnamed male director. He filmed her audition, during which he asked her to touch herself intimately—something that she agreed to because there was a female casting director in the room. Years later, when Newton was in her 30s, she discovered the director had kept the audition tape and played it at poker games for other Hollywood insiders. When she began speaking out about this and other far worse abuse she has suffered, she was either ignored or disbelieved. And at the time it may have even cost her work. “I was very aware of the climate of sexual abuse that was going on around me, so I became the person you didn’t want to hire because I would call it out,” she says. “In retrospect, I can see many instances where not only would I not be employed, but other actors and actresses would not necessarily want to be associated with me.” Even people who were supposed to be on her side often told her to sit down.

Thandie Newton as Maeve Millay in Westworld

“When I sit in a hairdresser’s chair, if a hairdresser goes to pull a gray, I’m like, ‘Whoa don’t you touch that!’ They just assume that I wouldn’t want that. But, this is my antenna to the grays out there! This is my wisdom, my badge of honor. And I want to see these grays so it reminds me every day that time is running out and that is something to celebrate, not to be afraid of.”

At first, I thought you and the others were gods. Then I realized you’re just men, and I know men. You think I’m scared of death? I’ve done it a million times. I’m fucking great at it. How many times have you died?

Thandiwe Newton for The Edit by Net-A-Porter (March 2020)

Maeve Millay in Chestnut (1.02)

Thandie Newton as Val in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

“If you could trade lives with any other your costars, who would it be and why?” featuring Kit Harington & Thandie Newton (x)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Thandie Newton poses in the press room during the 70th Emmy Awards on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Thandie Newton Throwback: The Stars of Vanity Fair On Jewellery 2011

THANDIE NEWTON as DCI Roseanne “Roz” Huntley LINE OF DUTY, season 4, episode 1

Thandie Newton Photographed by Hasse Nielsen for The Edit Magazine 2017

Thandiwe Newton for The Edit by Net-A-Porter (March 2020)

Thandie Newton attends the première of HBO’s ‘Westworld’ Season 2 at The Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, California (April 16, 2018).