Thandie Newton

airdate October 3, 2005

For actress Thandie Newton, her role in Jefferson in Paris was a launching pad. It led to her playing the title character in Beloved and the female lead in Mission: Impossible 2. Raised in Zambia and England, Newton started her showbiz career as a dancer. After an injury, she turned to acting, earning an anthropology degree from Cambridge University along the way. She's had a wide variety of roles, including on NBC's hit ER and in the critically acclaimed film, Crash. She was recently cast in Pursuit of Happyness.