Thandiwe Newton
Biography
Melanie Thandiwe Newton OBE, born on November 6, 1972, in London, England, is a British actress. Formerly credited as Thandie Newton, she has established a prominent career in film and television with numerous acting credits. Known for her versatile performances across a wide range of genres, Newton has portrayed a diverse array of characters in notable feature films and television series throughout her career. Her extensive body of work includes prominent roles in major Hollywood productions and acclaimed television dramas, earning recognition within the entertainment industry.
Career overview
Thandiwe Newton is known for starring roles in several high-profile feature films and television programs. Her film credits include playing the title character in Beloved in 1998, Nyah Nordoff-Hall in Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, Tiffany in Shade in 2003, and Dame Vaako in The Chronicles of Riddick in 2004. She also appeared as Christine in Crash in 2004, Linda in The Pursuit of Happyness in 2006, Libby in Run Fatboy Run in 2007, and Stella in RockNRolla in 2008. Additional film appearances include portraying Condoleezza Rice in W. in 2008, Laura Wilson in 2012 in 2009, Tangie Adrose in For Colored Girls in 2010, and Val in Solo: A Star Wars Story in 2018.
In addition to her film work, Newton has taken on notable television roles. She starred as Maeve Millay in the television series Westworld from 2016 to 2022 and appeared as Roz Huntley in Line of Duty in 2017.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Anaconda (2025) as Claire Simons
- Mufasa: The Lion King (2024) as Eshe (voice)
- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023) as Ginger (voice)
- President (2023) Executive Producer
- The Jennifer Hudson Show (2022) as Self - Guest
- Wednesday (2022) as Dr. Rachael Fairburn
- Human Resources (2022) as Mona (voice)
- All the Old Knives (2022) as Celia Harrison
- God's Country (2022) as Sandra Guidry
- Reminiscence (2021) as Emily 'Watts' Sanders
- Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema (2020) as Narrator (voice)
- Nations United: Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times (2020) as Self
- The Death & Life of John F. Donovan (2019) as Journalist
- Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) as Val
- Gringo (2018) as Bonnie Soyinka
- Family Feud (2018) as Joan
- The Big Narstie Show (2018) as Self
- Big Mouth (2017) as Mona (voice)
- Big Mouth (2017)
- Liyana (2017) Executive Producer
- Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon (2017) as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Westworld (2016) as Maeve Millay
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015) as Self
- The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015) as Self - Guest
- Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter (2015) as Self
- The Slap (2015) as Aisha
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014) as Self
- Variety Studio: Actors on Actors (2014) as Self
- Off Camera with Sam Jones (2014) as Self
- Rogue (2013) as Grace Travis
- Rogue (2013)
- Half of a Yellow Sun (2013) as Olanna
- Line of Duty (2012) as DCI Roz Huntley
- Good Deeds (2012) as Lindsey
- Retreat (2011) as Kate
- The Prophet (2011) as Narrator
- Vanishing on 7th Street (2010) as Rosemary
- Huge (2010) as Kris
- For Colored Girls (2010) as Tangie / Orange
- The End of the World: The Actor's Perspective (2010) as Self
- 2012: Roland Emmerich - Master of the Modern Epic (2010) as Self
- RuPaul's Drag Race (2009) as Self - Special Guest
- RuPaul's Drag Race (2009) as Self - Guest Judge
- 2012 (2009) as Laura Wilson
- RocknRolla (2008) as Stella
- How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) as Self
- W. (2008) as Condoleezza Rice
- The Graham Norton Show (2007) as Self
- Norbit (2007) as Kate Thomas
- Run Fatboy Run (2007) as Libby
- Making Pursuit: An Italian Take on the American Dream (2007) as Self
- Father and Son: On Screen and Off (2007)
- The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) as Linda
- The Interrogation of Leo and Lisa (2006) as The Mona Lisa
- American Dad! (2005) as Makeva (voice)
- The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005) as Self
- Crash (2005) as Christine Thayer
- The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) as Dame Vaako
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003) as Self - Guest
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003) as Self
- Shade (2003) as Tiffany
- The Truth About Charlie (2002) as Regina Lambert
- Mission: Impossible II (2000) as Nyah Hall
- It Was an Accident (2000) as Noreen Hurlock
- Beloved (1998) as Beloved
- Besieged (1998) as Shandurai
- Elle Style Awards (1997) as Self - Winner
- Gridlock'd (1997) as Cookie
- In Your Dreams (1997) as Clare
- The Daily Show (1996) as Self
- The Leading Man (1996) as Hilary Rule
- Jefferson in Paris (1995) as Sally Hemings
- The Journey of August King (1995) as Annalees
- ER (1994) as Makemba 'Kem' Likasu
- Interview with the Vampire (1994) as Yvette
- Loaded (1994) as Zita
- The Young Americans (1993) as Rachael Stevens
- Flirting (1991) as Thandiwe Adjewa
- Pirate Prince (1991) as Becky Newton
- The Word (1990)
- Cry to Heaven
- The Wanted Man
- First Day on Earth as Anya