*While promoting her new film “God’s Country,” actress Thandie Newton apologized to dark-skin Black women for not representing them.
As reported by Sky News, Newton said her role in the film allowed her to heal as a black woman. “God’s Country” was adapted from a short story by James Lee Burke – but the lead character has been switched from an older white man into a Black woman.
Per the report, Newton plays a grieving professor who confronts two white hunters on her property. She was hesitant to take on the role because of colorism issues — believing she wasn’t “dark-skinned” enough for the role.
“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 said.
READ MORE: Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor Sign Open Letter Urging Black Britons to Get COVID-19 Vaccine
https://youtu.be/ZOt9NZITdLs
“Doesn’t matter that it’s from African-American women more than anyone else, doesn’t matter. I received prejudice. Anyone who’s received oppression and prejudice feels this character.”
Getting emotional, Newton added that she “wanted to apologize every day to darker-skinned actresses.”
“To say, ‘I’m sorry that I’m the one chosen. My mama looks like you. My mom looks like you’,” she said.
“It’s been very painful to have women look like my mom feel like I’m not representing them. That I’m taking from them. Taking their men, taking their work, taking their truth. I didn’t mean to.”
Meanwhile, here’s what Deadline reports about the film:
Julian Higgins’ feature directorial debut is based on Winter’s Light, a short story by James Lee Burke that he previously adapted into a 2015 short of the same name. It’s a character-driven thriller centered on Sandra Guidry (Newton), a professor living and working in a rural college town who is grieving her recently-deceased mother. On the day of the burial, Sandra discovers a mysterious red truck parked in her driveway, soon learning that it belongs to a pair of local hunters seeking to enter the forest behind her house.
“God’s Country” marks the first project for Newton where she is using her birth name Thandiwe.
“I got to change it back, which actually is probably more powerful,” she said. “So I’m glad that they robbed it for a brief, brief couple of decades.
“And I love the fact that it’s God’s Country that is the first project that has my name, you know. Honestly, I was like, this is my last movie… I don’t need to say anything else, really.”
“God’s Country” film made its world premiere at the virtual Sundance Film Festival this Sunday, January 23. Watch a clip from the film below.
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