Thandie Newton secretly quit Charlie’s Angels after alleged comments by film execs

Actress Thandie Newton says she passed on a role in Charlie’s Angels after comments in meetings with the film’s top execs.

Thandie Newton said she pulled out of 2000 hit Charlie’s Angels following alleged behaviour from the film’s creators.

The Westworld actress, 47, claimed in a candid interview with Vulture that she walked away from the job after former Sony Pictures executive Amy Pascal made racially insensitive remarks.

She said she was also put off the project after a meeting with the director, where he allegedly explained the first shot to the star.

RELATED: Thandie Newton was ‘scared’ of Tom Cruise on movie set

RELATED: Depp makes heartbreaking confession

“One of the biggest movies I didn’t end up doing was because the director said to me, ‘I can’t wait for this. The first shot is going to be … You’re going to think it’s like yellow lines down a road, and you pull back and you realise it’s the stitching, because the denim is so tight on your arse it’s going to look like tarmac,” Newton told the publication.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think we’re going to go down this road together.’”

Thandie Newton turned down a role in Charlie’s Angels. Picture: Getty Images.

Newton told Vulture she then had a meeting with Pascal, who suggested that her character needed to be more “believable” as university-educated.

Newton alleged Pascal had said: “Look, I don’t mean to be politically incorrect, but the character as written and you playing the role, I just feel like we’ve got to make sure that it’s believable.”

When the star responded that she had attended Cambridge, Pascal allegedly replied, “Yeah, but you’re different. Maybe there could be a scene where you’re in a bar and she gets up on a table and starts shaking her booty.’”

Newton explained: “She’s basically reeling off these stereotypes of how to be more convincing as a black character.

“Everything she said, I was like, ‘Nah, I wouldn’t do that. She’s like, ‘Yeah but you’re different.’”

Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz & Drew Barrymore in scene from 2000 film Charlie's Angels. Picture: Supplied.

“Let’s face it: I didn’t do the movie as a result,” she added.

The action-comedy went on to star Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz, and was a huge global hit.

In a statement to Vulture, Pascal claimed she didn’t remember the incident with Newton.

“While I take her words seriously, I have no recollection of the events she describes, nor do any of her representatives who were present at that casting session,” Pascal said in a statement.

“I’ve long considered Thandie a friend; I’m thankful that I’ve had the chance to make movies with her; and I hope to work with her again in the future.”

Newton walked away from Charlie’s Angels after uncomfortable meetings with top execs. Picture: AFP.

Amy Pascal has responded to the claims. Picture: Getty Images.

In 2015, Pascal left Sony after an email hack revealed a slew of racially charged exchanges.

One included a discussion with producer Scott Rudin in which they mused on former US President Barack Obama’s movie taste.

The emails showed them wondering whether he would prefer movies starring black actors like Think Like a Man and Django Unchained.