Thandie Newton says she was excluded from Hollywood’s #TimesUp movement because she “wasn’t hot enough.”
Via IndieWire, Thandie Newton opened up to The Daily Telegraph about how painful it felt to be shut out of the movement.
“I wasn’t hot enough,” she told the publication. “I wasn’t mainstream enough and I wasn’t going to be at the Oscars this year, even though I am having a renaissance in my career.”
Newton has been open about the exploitative nature of Hollywood, sharing her own horrifying story of sexual abuse and the shaming she received from many in the industry.
She revealed to CNN in 2013, “There was one horrific incident where I went back for a second audition. The director asked me to sit with my legs apart; the camera was right positioned where it could see up my skirt.” The actress said that the director then told her to “put my leg over the arm of the chair, and before I started my dialogue, think about the character I was supposed to be having the dialogue with and how it felt to be made love to by this person.”
Three years after the incident, Newton learned from a producer at the Cannes Film Festival that the director has used the video to entertain friends at parties.
In her conversation with The Daily Telegraph, Newton added that it felt “very painful” to be shut out by Hollywood again after battling such a painful past.
“I felt if there was one girl whose family was thinking about putting their child into show business, that would help them decide. That was all I cared about.”