Thandie Newton Reveals Why She Spoke Out About Tom Cruise
Thandie Newton is revealing why she spoke out about working with Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible 2 and why she was “scared” of him.
“I just happened to be an older woman who has recognized that knowing the truth and speaking the truth has benefited me a hell of a lot more than being silenced or seeing people silenced around me,” Thandie told Variety when asked why she came forward with her story. “And I have nothing to lose. I have nothing to lose because I could just then not get hired, which is kind of normal for people in my generation anyway. So I’ve got nothing to lose and I would rather go out using this moment…It’s not about confessionalism, it’s not even about my confessions. It’s about that this is the reality of what people face.”
Part of what Thandie revealed about Tom was that during one difficult scene, he forced her to switch roles with him so he could show her what to do.
Thandie recalled, “So we rehearsed and they recorded it, and then he goes, ‘I’ll be you. You be me.’ So we filmed the entire scene with me being him — because, believe me, I knew the lines by then — and him playing me. And it was the most unhelpful … I can’t think of anything less revealing. It just pushed me further into a place of terror and insecurity. It was a real shame. And bless him. And I really do mean bless him, because he was trying his damnedest.”
Thandie also confessed what happened that made her turn down the 2000s Charlie’s Angels movie.
Thandie was just nominated for an Emmy for her work in HBO’s Westworld.