Thandiwe Newton
(Picture: REUTERS)Thandie Newton has revealed her real name is Thandiwe and says people have been spelling it wrong for 30 years.
The actor, whose full name is Melanie Thandiwe Newton, said the “w” was left out of her name in her first film credit for the 1991 Australian film Flirting.
The name stuck but now Ms Newton says she is “taking back what’s mine” and will be using Thandiwe for all future acting projects.
Thandiwe, pronounced tan-DEE-way, means “beloved” in Shona, one of the languages of her mother’s native Zimbabwe.
"That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine,” Ms Newton told British Vogue.
Ms Newton also discussed the abuse she experienced as a young actress, saying she was left "derailed" and "traumatised".
The Westworld star, who lives in west London, told the magazine she had "a kind of PTSD for sure" after being sexually abused when she was 16-years-old.
Ms Newton said: "There’s a moment where the ghost of me changed, you know.
"And it was then, it was 16. He derailed me from myself utterly.
"I was traumatised. It was a kind of PTSD for sure.”
She added she has a "seventh sense for abuse and abusers, which I believe is one of the reasons why I was rejected a lot in Hollywood".
Ms Newton said: "I’ll talk about it until the cows come home, because I know I’ll be helping someone."
The 48-year-old also said that acting used to be a form of escapism for her.
"I find that acting takes more and more away from me, because I’m more connected to myself than I’ve ever been, whereas before I was delighted to get an excuse to go off to another personality," she said.
"I couldn’t wait to get away from myself, truly, I had such low self-esteem.
"Acting was where I felt whole."
Ms Newton is best known for starring in sci-fi TV series Westworld and for films including Crash and Mission Impossible II, as well her guest role in season four of the hit police corruption drama Line Of Duty.
See Ms Newton’s full interview in the May issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands Friday 9th April.
