Thandie Newton of Westworld empowers women of color

Thandie Newton is the epitome of empowerment and inspiration and she’s producing films that encourage what she stands for.

Thandie Newton has won over our hearts and soul with not only her work on Westworld but as a human being. And if we didn’t love her enough already, her debut as a film producer just made us fall in love with her all over again.

Over the last year or so, Newton has gotten involved with a project called Liyana, which focuses on a girl named Liyana who sets off on a journey to rescue her twin brothers alongside a group of children from Swaziland.

In an interview with SheKnows, Newton spoke about how she has always enjoyed doing work that surpassed the simple idea of entertainment. She wants it to make an impact and not just focus on how much she’ll get paid for doing it.

When she came to know of Liyana, she fell in love with the idea of the central character and particularly how Gcina Mhlope, a South African actor, activist, and storyteller shapes the narrative of the story. Newton told SheKnows how it felt to work on Liyana and why it was special for her:

"“It’s not often that the work I do as an actress that I feel such pride and feel so satisfied with the work that I put into it. There were obviously no monetary gains for me, but that really didn’t matter because this is the kind of work that is so much more satisfying.”"

Thandie Newton hopes that because of her involvement with Liyana women of color feel empowered and that the sky is the limit when it comes to achieving your dreams. And while Liyana is completed and in theatres, Newton is now working on her first feature film.

"“I think it’s going to be a huge amount of what I do, producing and putting together my first feature film right now, which has similarly evolved from what I think is very valuable and empowering for women and reframing our views of people of color and also creating a platform for glorious female empowerment, which I believe is human empowerment. Nurturing a woman is nurturing a family, a community and on and on and on.”"

And through her passion and belief in empowerment, she believes the sense of community will grow stronger, and that can only result in great things. We agree, Thandie Newton, we absolutely agree.