Newton got her big break playing third American President Thomas Jefferson's slave and mistress in James Ivory's Jefferson In Paris (1995).
She also won praise for her performance in the drama Crash, which earned her a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Artists) nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Indian movie buffs may remember her from Mission: Impossible II (2000), where she played Tom Cruise's love interest, Nyah Nordoff-Hall.