Thandie Newton has told her children she was abused.
The 44-year-old actress – who has daughters Ripley, 16, Nico, 12 and son Booker, two, with husband Ol Parker – previously revealed she had been sexually assaulted by a director when she was just 16, and felt it was important to address the subject with her older kids.
She said: "I told them that the first time I ever had any sexual encounter, it was abuse.
"Eventually, my 12 year old stopped me and said, ‘Mum, don’t worry. I am way cooler than you were at my age.’ "
When she was pregnant with her youngest child, the ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ actress had a frank talk about sex with Ripley.
And a few days later, Thandie was very glad she’d provided her daughter with the true facts.
She recalled to Net-a-Porter’s The Edit magazine: "I said, ‘Daddy has a beautiful penis, which enters Mama, and these two precious parts of us join together…’
"A few days later, Ripley came home from school, saying, ‘Mummy, I had to tell Don he was wrong today. Don said sex is when a man makes his willy go really hard and then beats the woman with it.’ Lucky I got to her first."
The ‘Westworld’ star admits she regularly encounters sexism in her day-to-day life.
She said: "Do you ever contribute to [the blog] Everyday Sexism? I want to, but I’d have to do it endlessly; I’d have to do it about so many people I work with."
Thandie is an outspoken supporter of the causes she is passionate about but she admits she has lost friends as a result of the "unpalatable" conversation subjects she brings up.
She admitted: "I’ve been cut out of people’s lives often because I’ve said things that are unpalatable. [Is it worth it?] It hurts me like f***ing hell."
Thandie Newton told daughters about abuse ordeal
