Maeve in 'Westworld' reflects truth of what people go through in real, says Thandie Newton

Actor Thandie Newton believes her character's journey in "Westworld" is reflective of the struggle women face in the real world.

In the sci-fi drama, Newton plays Maeve, a robot who has been given the role of a prostitute in a wild west theme but as she starts to gain conscience, she remembers her daughter.

Newton said well-rounded characters for female actors are hard to come by so Maeve's character in "Westworld" has been really special.

"I've actually had to leave jobs, or say no to jobs because they're sexist and misogynistic and racist - and people don't even realise they are being those things. But I'm pretty damn picky.

"And so, to play Maeve in Westworld has been extraordinary, because I feel like I've been able to actually play a role that is in many ways reflecting the harrowing truth of what people go through in the world," Newton said in a statement.

The actor-activist, who has been fighting against sexual harassment long before #MeToo movement hit Hollywood, says she suffered for speaking out at that time.

Newton said she started reaching out to grassroots organisations to reach out to women who really needed her help rather than hang out with people "who have had a voice and money and power and haven't done anything".

The actor said her activism informs the performer in her and she channelled the suffering of the women she met during her charity work in the character of Maeve.

"For me playing Maeve - who is a character that is forced to die again and again, and experience the cruelty again and again - it just conjures up my experience with women in Congo who have suffered such horrific sexual violence, that just destroys them.

"...These are the women that have inspired me, and I think about them with Maeve, and if I could only give them the chance to come back from what they've been through, to be able to then rise up. They are very relevant, for me. That doesn't happen very often with my work, because a lot of the time I'm dealing with underwritten characters, female characters written by men - they're trying their hardest, but it's not good enough," she said.

The #MeToo movement started in the wake of multiple allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and other heavyweights from the industry though Newton, who had in the past spoken about being sexual abused by a director as a teenager, has been critical of the movement, alleging that they shut her out as she was not "mainstream enough" for them.

Newton said she has been talking about sexual harassment and rape in the industry for 20 years, but no one was ready to take it on and in fact, being open about facing abuse actually cost her jobs.

"It's so much part of our industry. It's everywhere. It's in every meeting, it's the way everyone's treated, and it's what you just accept. It's almost like the tax you have to pay is to be harassed, or to have suggestive language used. Or to have to dress in a certain way.

"And because everyone's complicit, nobody wants to be the one saying it. And I was, and it affects my career, it affected my friendships. I was less hirable. I felt all of it," Newton said.

She said it caused her a lot of pain but things changed when she met feminist-writer Eve Ensler and started reaching out to grassroots organisations to reach out to women who really needed her help rather than hang out with people "who have had a voice and money and power and haven't done anything".

"Westworld" airs in India on Star World and Star World HD from Monday to Friday at 9:00 pm.