Thandie Newton has had directorial aspirations for some time now, and finally, she has revealed some details to her first film, which she also wrote the screenplay.
According to IndieWire, Newton revealed the details on an episode of RuPaul’s podcast What’s the Tee? with Michelle Visage. Newton said the film is an adaption of a young adult novel she read with her daughters. The name of the book hasn’t been revealed, nor has the title of the film. But she said her oldest daughter said the book could be good for film.
Newton said she was able to find the rights to the book. “It was a wonderful producer who I had talked to about making something with just the previous year by chance, and she assumed I was ringing her to ask if I could play the mother role,” she said during the podcast, adding that the leads of the film are three Black girls in 1968 Oakland. The film will also be shot on location in California.
“I knew I wanted to direct it,” she continued after saying that she was able to convince the producer to allow her to write a draft script. “But you can’t just say you want to direct when you haven’t done anything before. So just through the way I wrote the script, I think it was pretty clear that I had a director’s eye. So here we are, five years later.”
Fans of YA books probably know what book it is that Newton is adapting, but since the film’s title hasn’t been announced formally, there might be some contractual reasons as to why. But overall, this project seems like it could be quite an exciting experience for young moviegoers.
Apart from her directorial and writing work, Newton is also gearing up for the third season of HBO’s hit show Westworld. On the show, Newton plays fan-favorite character Maeve, a Host who went from being the town’s saloon madam to a self-possessed heroine who is out to protect her daughter from her former life as a frontierswoman.
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