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Thandie Newton was born on November 6, 1972, to a Zimbabwean mother, Nyasha, and British father, Nick. Her mother was a health care worker, while her father was a lab technician as well as artist. She was born in Zambia, although her father moved them to London when Thandie Newton was four years old. She studied dance at the London Art Educational School, a private school in London. Unfortunately she suffered a back injury and this prodded her to stop dancing.

It was around this time that Thandie Newton met John Duigan, an Australian director, who was looking for someone to cast in 1991’s Flirting. She auditioned, and won the role of the protagonist’s girlfriend. Nicole Kidman also starred in the movie, although at the time she was still unknown. After Flirting, Thandie Newton had a small role in Interview with the Vampire in 1994. In that same year, she was also cast in the movie Loaded, directed by Anna Campion. Soon thereafter in 1995, she teamed up once again with John Duigan, who cast her in the small feature film, The Journey of August King, where she acted alongside Jason Patric.

It was the movie 1998 movie Jefferson in Paris, where Thandie Newton gained international acclaim to her acting. She starred opposite Nick Nolte, playing the part of Sally Hemmings, his lover and slave. Gwyneth Paltrow and James Earl Jones also starred in the movie. In 1998, she starred in Beloved as the lead role, playing alongside big names such as Oprah Winfrey, Kimberly Elise, and Danny Glover. She earned a Golden Satellite Award nomination for the film in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in a Drama. Thandie Newton then began her third project with John Duigan, a film called The Leading Man, where she starred with Jon Bon Jovi.

Even after these films, it was 1998’s Besieged that put Thandie Newton on the Hollywood actress A-list, and got her noticed. Besieged was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, and got several positive reviews from critics. She was also nominated a Black Reel award in the category of Best Actress. Soon in 2000, she took the female lead role, and teaming up again with Tom Cruise after many years, in the John Woo directed film, Mission: Impossible 2. Thandie Newton earned many praises for her portrayal of Nyah Hall in the movie.

Thandie Newton also appeared in a few episodes of ER between 2003 and 2005. She also starred in Crash, opposite Matt Dillon, and garnered many awards for the movie. Crash earned the Best Movie Award from the Academy Awards in 2005, and she won the Black Reel award for Best Ensemble along with the cast, the UK Empire Awards for Best Actress and British Supporting Actress of the Year for London Critics Circle Film Awards.