THANDIE NEWTON - NEWTON FOUGHT TO CHANGE TERRIBLE MOTHER CHARACTER

Actress THANDIE NEWTON fought to change the plight of her character in WILL SMITH's new film THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS - because she couldn't portray a mother who would just give up a child. The mother of two plays the former wife of homeless father-turned-business tycoon CHRIS GARDNER in the new movie, but couldn't believe her real-life character was really such a terrible mother. In the film, Newton's character gives up on her struggling husband and dumps him with their young son - something the actress struggled with. She says, "In rehearsals the director said, 'I'm sorry Thandie. She's just a bitch,' and I said, 'That didn't make any sense.' "No one leaves their kids unless there's psychological dysfunction there and we couldn't have four scenes where that's not suggested." Newton reveals even the movie's lawyers got involved when she attempted to tweak the script to help her come to terms with her character's decision to walk out on her family. She adds, "It was a hard one."