Thandie Newton didn’t think she was beautiful until she had her first child.
Despite being considered to be one of the world’s most attractive women, the 41-year-old actress insists she never felt desirable until she gave birth to her daughter Ripley in 2000 because she lacked self-esteem.
Thandie – who has three kids, Ripley, daughter Nico and son Booker Jombe, with her husband Ol Parker – said: "I’ve been different things in different contexts, and I didn’t really feel beautiful until I had my first child. I knew that I was considered People magazine’s Most Whatever, but all that stuff is just how we label different groups.
"And I’ve been very not beautiful in my life. There’s no way I was beautiful growing up."
Thandie also claims the start of her 40s have been much better than she would have ever imagined them to be when she was younger.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, she said: "I love being in my forties … just getting there and realising that you haven’t grown horns or boils on your bum, when all the time it had been this thing looming in the future, is such a relief".
However, she does admit that Hollywood often stereotypes actresses according to their age.
Thandie said: "You see these casting directors’ lists of characters, and they’re all boxed in. Twenties is the hot girlfriend, thirties you can still be hot but moving swiftly to hot mum. Forties you’re the legal person in a pantsuit.
"But what about the tons of twenty-somethings that you look at and think, ‘Really? You’re seriously having a relationship with an actor who has been having relationships with girls your age for 20 years?’ I mean, at what point are the men going to age?"
Thandie Newton: Motherhood made me feel beautiful
