Actress Thandiwe Newton gets emotional as she opens up about both the pain and privilege she feels for not being able to represent for dark-skinned women.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, the British actress went into detail about how she has “desperately” wanted to “apologize everyday to darker-skinned actresses” for feeling like she is not representing them, “taking from them, taking their men, taking their work, taking their truth.”
Focusing on Newton’s newest film, God’s Country, the actress opened up about colorism within the world of Hollywood. As she apologized for being “the chosen one,” she explained to viewers how painful it has been receiving this criticism. “My mama looks like you,” she said as she broke down in tears.
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Newton has often faced criticism for her complexion as a biracial woman. Back in 2018, she received a great amount of hate online for describing herself as “the first dark-skinned woman in Star Wars,” in an interview with The Guardian. She quickly jumped on Twitter soon after the backlash, “Eugh I need to stop the yap yap yappin’ and just BE the change in the world I wish to see [emoji] @StarWarsMovies #Colorism”
Newton went on to explain how her role as Sandra allowed her to have better insight and understanding of herself as a black woman. “I now realize that my internalized prejudice was stopping me from feeling like I could play this role when it’s precisely that prejudice that I’ve received,” she revealed. “Anyone who’s received oppression and prejudice feels this character.”
“Whenever they say that black women have watched the movie and it’s really, really, really mattered to them, I just thank god that my light skin didn’t stop that from happening. That it didn’t cause more pain.”
Check out the video apology below.