Thandiwe Newton is changing her name back to the one she was given at birth.
Most famously known for her role in "Westworld," Newton revealed in a recent interview with Vogue she is reclaiming her given name and will be using it for all of her acting credits going forward.
Originally, the name Thandie was a nickname forced on her as a schoolchild then a careless misspelling in her first acting credit.
She resigned herself to using it until now.
Newton said:
"That's my name. It's always been my name. I'm taking back what's mine."
Over Newton's career, she has spoken out against racism and sexual abuse.
In the same interview with Vogue, Newton share her story of actively supporting abuse survivors' rights and citing her own treatment off screen as a young star. Her sexual abuse was in conjunction with racism she experienced from the beginning of her career.
On the topic of her abuse, she 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 traumatized."
Newton has been known for speaking out against abuse over the years, saying staying silent was like dying to her.
Reclaiming her name seems to come with reclaiming a part of herself that was lost due to the abuse and racism:
"I've changed a whole lot."
"Many lives have been lived since then."
Many people on Twitter share how their birth names had been changed to something more "English."
Twitter also had to point out the error in the article, but Newton tweeted the correction on the origins of her name.
Many users still showed their support for her in her reclamation.
Thandiwe Newton is taking back her name and taking control of her life.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter