Actress Thandiwe Newton reclaims original spelling of her name

The actress had been known as Thandie from her first film Flirting (1991) due to a misspelling in the credits. PHOTO: BRITISH VOGUE/INSTAGRAM

After a career spanning 30 years, actress Thandiwe Newton is reclaiming her real name.

Known as Thandie from her first film Flirting (1991) due to a misspelling in the credits, she will now insist on the W being included in her name, which is the original Zulu-derived spelling of her name, meaning "beloved".

"That's my name. It's always been my name," she says in an interview with British Vogue's May issue, in which she appears on the cover. "I'm taking back what's mine."

The award-winning British star, who played brothel madam Maeve in Westworld (2016 to present), has corrected her social media account handles.

In an Instagram post on Sunday (April 4), she wrote: "When @Edward_Enninful first became editor of @BritishVogue, he wrote me a letter which I'll never forget. As well as thanking me for my contribution to Britain and the world (I was sobbing as I read it), he asked me to be on the cover of his magazine."

She thanked Enninful, who was appointed editor-in-chief of British Vogue in 2017 and the only black editor in history to head any Vogue magazine, as well as her Westworld character.

Using the Shona word for "thank you", she wrote: "Mazvita Edward. Mazvita #Maeve."

She continued: "Thank you for supporting this cover and showing black girls that they can be icons. They already are. I hope this helps my darlings - I got you xxxx."

In the Vogue interview, she said: ""The thing I'm most grateful for in our business right now is being in the company of others who truly see me. And to not be complicit in the objectification of black people as 'others', which is what happens when you're the only one."

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