Whenever I see Thandie, I’m just disgusted. It’s very much like my gut-level reaction to Kristen Stewart at this point – there is never a moment when I don’t want to smack her. Don’t you have people who just piss you off for little to no reason? Thandie is just one of those people I irrationally hate.
So with that prologue, imagine my reaction to this recent interview Thandie Newton gave about her start as an actress at the age of 16 years old. She got a part in an Australian film called Flirting (also starring Nicole Kidman), and Thandie began a sexual relationship with her 39-year-old director John Duigan. Now, I guess 16 was and is the age of consent, so it’s not like it was statutory rape, legally speaking. And Thandie is not claiming that, to her credit. But I’m still not sure why she’s discussing it:
Thandie Newton has revealed that she has come to terms with a traumatic relationship with a film director 23 years her senior who she claims took advantage of her innocence as a teenager. She spoke about her six-year affair with director John Duigan which she began when she was 16 after travelling to Australia to audition for his film Flirting, which starred Nicole Kidman.
The Bafta-winning actress has said the relationship left her feeling ‘self-destructive’ and said she has only spoken about it ‘so teenagers can see they can resist and gain self-awareness’.
Speaking to InStyle magazine, Miss Newton, 38, star of Mission: Impossible II, The Pursuit of Happyness and Rock ‘n Rolla, claims Duigan took advantage of her when she was vulnerable.
She said: ‘I was a very shy, very sweet girl. I wasn’t in control of the situation. Would I have liked things to be different? Sure. But I can now value myself more for the way I got through it. I don’t see myself as a victim.’
She added: ‘Part of me feels grateful I can accept the difficulties that came with that situation and be a more compassionate person myself.’
Miss Newton, an ambassador for skincare brand Olay, is happily married to director Ol Parker, with whom she has two daughters, Ripley, 11 and Nico, seven. She said she had therapy after the affair. She also said she never told her parents about at the time.
Asked why she had not reported it to police, she said: ‘I am my own supreme court. I judge that one. And in a strict legal way there might not be a case.’
Previously she has said: ‘In retrospect, although it was legal because I was 16, I was coerced.’
