For 30 years film and TV audiences have known her as Thandie Newton. But not for much longer.
The British actress is reverting to her real name – Thandiwe – three decades after it was misspelt in her first film.
The star, 48, whose full name is Melanie Thandiwe Newton, appears on the cover of the May issue of British Vogue with her name spelt correctly in a major publication for the first time.
She has revealed that Thandie was a careless misspelling in the credits of her first movie – the 1991 Australian film Flirting, co-starring Nicole Kidman and Noah Taylor – and it has stuck ever since.
It is unclear whether this was coincidental or a deliberate decision, but in all her future projects she will be credited as Thandiwe Newton.
‘That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine,’ she told the magazine.