But it’s clear that it is not just acting talent that the Cambridge-educated actress possesses as Thandie showcases her gymnastic prowess and enviable figure in a new magazine shoot.
As she hangs from the rafters in a daring set of moves, the 38-year-old, also an ambassador for a major skincare line, proves that she is as youthful as ever.
Scroll down for video footage of the shoot
Defying gravity: Thandie puts her youthful looks down to her genes
Bulimic as a teenager, the mother of two claims that nowadays keeping in shape never involves any crash-dieting or gruelling, fad exercise regimes.
‘If I go away for Christmas and eat too much, I don’t get stressed about it. If I need to lose weight, I eat less pasta.’
She also steers clear of Botox: ‘I am what they in Hollywood call ‘animated'.
'There’s a truth in that old ‘black don’t crack’ thing’
Thandiwe Adjedwa Newton (her first name translates as 'beloved') was born in London and grew up in Cornwall, but has her roots in Africa. She now lives with her family in a West London mansion.
Style queen: Thandie does not have a stylist but instead spends an hour or so a week scouring fashion websites and discussing collections with her mate Stella McCartney
Her mother is a Shona princess from Zimbabwe and her English father worked as a lab-technician-turned-antiques-dealer.
Boasting a wardrobe that anyone would die for, the actress does all of her own styling, spending an hour or so a week scouring fashion websites and discussing collections with her mate Stella McCartney.
'That’s one of the good things about not having a stylist,' she says.
'I just pick what I like. It’s fun. If there’s someone helping you, it becomes more of a big deal and takes more time. If it’s just me and my kids and my outfit… It’s easier.'
She claims that her husband of fifteen years Ol, shares her good taste.
'I know just by the way he looks at me sometimes that I have to keep looking. He doesn’t like it when the outfit is wearing me – he likes me to shine.
'Because he’s a director, he has a really good eye.'
Motherhood: Thandie says that becoming a mum provided her with much-needed focus
Success story: As a young girl Thandie Newton shone brightly in her local ballet classes in Penzance, now she is a top Hollywood actress
Thandie started her acting career after securing a place at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire and got her first major break playing an Aussie teenager in director John Duigan’s Flirting, also starring a young Nicole Kidman.
After Flirting, she went to Hollywood, but got knocked back by directors who weren't convinced she would be able to sustain an American accent.
‘They made me do a big screen test, which I thought was such b*******. It made me feel insecure and I hated the pressure.
Cover girl: Thandie's latest In Style shoot and interview reveals her playful side
'Back then, I wasn’t trained to resist the gaze of criticism and I hadn’t developed that thick skin you need.'
At the same time, she also managed to complete an anthropology degree at Downing College, Cambridge.
At 23, having already appeared in Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise, Thandie was sent a script for a low-budget, BBC2 movie called In Your Dreams, written by a young director called Ol Parker, her now husband.
'Ol has a very dry sense of humour. We are very different characters but very good friends.'
Other film credits include Mission: Impossible II, Crash, RocknRoller and this year's releases Ben Miller’s comedy drama Huge, Retreat, a psychological thriller that co-stars Cillian Murphy, and Vanishing on 7th Street, a post-apocalyptic horror with Hayden Christensen.
She says that she would support her daughters Ripley, ten, and Nico, six if they decided to go into show business.
'If they did want to go into acting, I’d definitely make sure that they had a manager, an agent and press person in place right from the start.
'You have to nowadays.'
Thandie has found motherhood a great source of strength and says that it provided her with much-needed focus.
'I didn’t know what I was doing before. Although my career was storming ahead, I actually felt quite aimless.
'Much as I love acting, I don’t feel the pressure to work regularly like I used to.'
Huge is out on 8 July. Vanishing on 7th Street and Retreat are out later this year
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