Thandie Newton's daughter gets acting bug from Dumbo

18 May 2018

Thandie Newton's daughter wants to follow her in mother's footsteps and become a world famous actress after landing a role in Tim Burton's 'Dumbo'.

Thandie Newton

The 45-year-old British thespian allowed her 13-year-old daughter Nico try out for a part in Disney's live action re-imagining of the classic 1941 animation about an elephant with over-sized ears that learns to fly.

Nico - whose dad Ol Parker is screenwriter and director - plays the daughter of Colin Farrell's war veteran and former circus performer character Holt Farrier who is hired to care for the baby elephant.

At first, Thandie thought it would be just a few days shooting but Nico ended up spending six months on set and has now firmly got the bug for the business like her parents.

Speaking to the Daily Mail newspaper, she said: "We thought it would be a couple of days on a Tim Burton film but it became nearly six months. And now she wants to be an actress."

Thandie, Ol and their family - which also includes 16-year-old daughter Ripley and four-year-old son Booker - are set for a busy year as she will be seen in cinemas this month in new sci-fi adventure 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' and the filmmaker is currently shooting musical sequel 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'.

Thandie - who plays Val Beckett in 'Solo' - has never been in more demand than the last few years and she admits her recent success makes all the hard times and knock backs worth it.

She said: "It's so weird that it has happened in my 40s. I've acted for 30 years now and I'm so grateful for the career I've had. There have been frustrating times, but the last five or six years I've stopped doing anything I don't want to do - and it's not that I can afford to do that. It's just that I've seen too much and know too much of the influence the industry has on young minds - my daughters are 16 and 13 and my son is four - and I'm mindful of the harm that can do.

"If I feel the production is being derogatory about other female characters, then I won't do it. I know how important it is to stand your ground.

"No one expects a woman of colour in her 40s to have a little surge in her career - especially in Hollywood, which is such a chew-you-up, spit-you-out industry, and I remember everything!"