Thandie Newton: Beloved and Beguiling.
EXCLUSIVE Thandie Newton/Besieged Interview by Paul Fischer

From Bertolucci to John Woo may seem a stretch, but for beautiful Thandie Newton, it's all part of a growth process. She began her career in Australia with John Duigan's Flirting, now she's back working on a somewhat bigger film, Mission Impossible 2. About to hit Australian cinema screens in Bertolucci's Besieged, the actress talked exclusively to Paul Fischer from the set of Mission Impossible 2.

The last time Thandie Newton made an impact on cinema audiences was in the title role of Jonathan Demme's drama Beloved. Oscar nominations were predicted and Newton herself was singled out for mention in the majority of reviews. It was a film that was Newton's passion, despite it being the third time the actress had played a slave on the screen. "This film blew apart everything I'd ever considered about slavery, she recalled, noting that her name, Thandie, coincidentally means 'beloved one'. "The intimacy of the story made the subject more accessible than ever, at least to me."

Newton's commitment to her character - a mysterious 20-year-old with the mind of a 2-year-old - was such that she didn't resist one of director Jonathan Demme's script alterations: He wanted a shot of 400,000 ladybugs crawling over Beloved, from head to toe. "By that point, she says, I had already explored so many dark places that working with a few hundred thousand insects was a picnic." So it's not surprising then, that Newton still remains devastated that audiences largely ignored the film that she worked on with such intensity. "I was surprised at how frustrated I was. I guess I realised that it wasn't the time for that kind of film, maybe the wrong decade, but I still think it has a long life ahead of it." It's interesting that the actress takes the film's commercial failure, personally. "You can't deny that if you're in a film which isn't successful, it's as though you haven't actually given that performance in the way that judges what the business side of Hollywood thinks of you."

Though Thandie doesn't come across as a Hollywood type, whatever that may be, she views it in a very matter-of-fact way. "It's a system which is actually quite easy to read. There are certain rules within that system, and I don't feel threatened by them. Also if you're in a movie that's done well, then cash in on the success and do other things quickly, then your career ends up as a very fast turnover, which is something else I'm aware of. I just decided not to use those things in terms of how my life to turn around; I DON'T want to be at the mercy of superficial ways of looking at cinema." Of course, that perspective may have changed through her decision to co-star in one of the biggest films of next year's US Summer slate: Mission Impossible 2. "It was easy to decide to do that film after I read the script. But also I had long admired John Woo for years, even well before stuff like Broken Arrow. His Hong Kong films are just extraordinary. So when I heard John Woo and Tom Cruise were coming together to make a movie, it seemed like his amazing combination, similar to Tarrantino and Travolta. On the surface, it might all sound bizarre, but the end result is unique." Working with Woo has given Newton a whole new perspective on the movie making process. "He manages to be so incredibly expressive as a filmmaker, the way he uses slow motion is just brilliant."

It's the second time Newton has worked with Cruise (the first was on Interview with a Vampire) and remains genuinely enthused on the superstar. "He's a genuinely nice guy and incredibly focussed. One learns a lot from working with him." The exotic experience of Mission is a far cry from her African roots and education. The British-born daughter of a Zimbabwean mother ("A princess of the Shona tribe") and an English father, Newton spent her first years in Zambia until political uncertainties drove the family back to Cornwall on England's south coast.

There, the appearance of a black person was still considered exotic in the mid-1970s, but the locals were fascinated rather than hostile. "I've never really experienced racism," she asserts. "My parents protected me, and as an actress, being black has been an advantage. You're different, so you get noticed and in this business you need something to get you noticed, don't you?" At age 11, having left her parents and brother in Cornwall, Newton studied modern dance at London's Arts Educational School. After an injury put her out of action, she was perfectly happy to audition for director John Duigan, who fortuitously arrived at her school looking for a young black actress to play the lead in his film called Flirting. Although she'd never had drama training or the slightest interest in becoming an actress, Newton got the part and, at 16, found herself in Australia working with Nicole Kidman. She returned home bitten by the acting and travel bugs, and promptly went off to visit her then boyfriend in L.A. He suggested she find an agent and, with the almost casual insouciance that characterizes her approach to show business, she picked up the telephone and in a mere three days had an agent, an audition and a film offer. The latter was withdrawn when the producer, confronted by her English accent, lost confidence.