Naomi Watts
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| Naomi Watts | |
 Watts at the London Film Festival for the Eastern Promises premiere, October 2007 |
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| Born | Naomi Ellen Watts September 28, 1968 Shoreham, Kent, England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Domestic partner(s) | Liev Schreiber (2005–present) |
Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968[1]) is a British-Australian actress. She is known for her roles in Mulholland Drive, the film remakes of The Ring, King Kong, Funny Games and her Academy Award-nominated role in the film 21 Grams.
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[edit] Early life
Watts was born in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England, the daughter of Myfanwy Edwards "Miv" (née Roberts), a Welsh antiques dealer and costume and set designer, and Peter Watts, a road manager and sound engineer who worked with Pink Floyd (her father's manic laugh can be heard in "Speak to Me" and "Brain Damage" and her mother's comments can be heard in "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Money" from The Dark Side of the Moon).[2][3][4][5] Watts is pictured, in her mother's arms, with her father, brother, the band, and other crew members, in the hardback/softcover edition of drummer Nick Mason's autobiography of the band Inside Out.[6]
Watts has one brother, Ben, a year older and now a photographer in the United States. Watts' parents separated when she was four years old, and when she was seven, her father died. Following her father's death, her mother relocated the family to Llanfawr Farm, on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, where they lived with Watts' maternal grandparents, Nikki and Hugh Roberts.[7]
Watts described her mother as a hippie "with passive-aggressive tendencies" and no money, who used to threaten to send her and her brother to foster care in order to get her parents to provide for them. Although her mother occasionally moved the family around Wales and England, usually to follow boyfriends, she always ended up returning to Llangefni. Watts lived there until she was 14. The family moved to Sydney, Australia in 1982. Her grandmother was Australian, which made it easier to obtain the documentation necessary, since Watts and her family were entitled to Australian citizenship. Of her nationality, she has said, "I consider myself British and have very happy memories of the UK. I spent the first 14 years of my life in England and Wales and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia I went back to England a lot."[8] But she has also clarified that she feels very much Australian after having lived there for many years and said, "I consider myself very Australian and very connected to Australia, in fact when people say where is home, I say Australia, because those are my most powerful memories."[9][10]
Watts claims that she wanted to become an actress since watching the film Fame. After moving to Sydney, she attended Mosman High school. She attended several schools, including North Sydney Girls High School, where her classmates included Nicole Kidman, with whom she is still close. In 1986 she took a break from acting and went to Japan to work as a model, but the experience, which lasted for about four months, was fruitless as Watts did not have the physical requirements for a professional runway model and could only hope to be working in promotions, which did not excite her. Watts describes it as one of the worst periods of her life. Upon returning to Australia, she went to work for a local department store and from there she went to work as assistant fashion editor with an Australian fashion magazine. A casual invitation to participate in a drama workshop rekindled her passion for acting, and prompted her to quit her job and dedicate herself to succeeding as an actress.
[edit] Career
Watts' career began in Australian television, where she appeared in commercials and series, including the melodramas Home and Away and Brides of Christ and the family sitcom Hey Dad..!. She was featured in a supporting role in the acclaimed 1991 Australian indie film Flirting, starring future Hollywood up-and-comers Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton. As Watts made the transition from Australia to the United States, she landed a supporting role in the cult 1995 film Tank Girl, playing the part of "Jet Girl".
Finding quality roles in the Hollywood system at first proved difficult. She appeared in the short-lived series Sleepwalkers and numerous B-list productions such as films like Children of the Corn IV. Gradually, Watts attracted supporting roles in films such as Dangerous Beauty. In 2001, she starred in The Shaft directed by Dick Maas, which garnered poor reviews.
In 2001, Watts starred in David Lynch's highly acclaimed Mulholland Drive. The film premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, winning her the National Society of Film Critics Award as Best Actress and the National Board of Review award as Breakthrough Performance of the year.
Watts worked with director/screenwriter Scott Coffey on Lynch's Mulholland Drive, where Watts made her breakout performance. Her next film, the semi-autobiographical Ellie Parker, grew out of the friendship forged between Watts and Coffey. In 2002, she starred in one of the biggest box office hits of that year, the English language remake of the Japanese horror film The Ring. The following year, she starred in the film Ned Kelly opposite Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush; as well as the Merchant-Ivory film Le Divorce with Kate Hudson. Her performance opposite Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro in director Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams earned Watts her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. She produced and starred in the well-received independent film We Don't Live Here Anymore. She reunited with Sean Penn and Don Cheadle in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, teamed up with Jude Law and Dustin Hoffman in David O. Russell's ensemble comedy I ♥ Huckabees, and starred in the sequel to the Ring, The Ring Two. She then starred in the much-anticipated remake of King Kong (2005) as Ann Darrow. The role, immortalized by Fay Wray in the original film, proved to be Watts' most commercially successful film yet. Helmed by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, the film won high praise and grossed $550 million worldwide.
Watts starred in The Painted Veil with Edward Norton and Liev Schreiber, released in December 2006. She has since finished the films Funny Games (a remake of the homonymous Austrian film by director Michael Haneke) with Tim Roth, and David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen.
The press has labeled her the "queen of remakes" because she has starred in so many of them; she is scheduled to star in the remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).[11] Watts has stated only that there have been "discussions" about the remake.[12]
In May 2006, Watts was named a special representative to the U.N. program for HIV/AIDS.
On 24 July 2007, The Courier-Mail reported that Watts had been cast as Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with Stuart Townsend and Joseph Fiennes, the younger brother of Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort), also being cast in unspecified roles.[13] On the next day, representatives of Watts, Townsend and Fiennes said that the rumors were not true.[14]
[edit] Personal life
Watts dated Stephen Hopkins[15] in the 1990s and actor Heath Ledger[16] from August 2002 to May 2004. Since the spring of 2005, Watts' partner has been the actor Liev Schreiber. The couple's first son, Alexander "Sacha" Pete, was born on 25 July 2007 in Los Angeles, and their second son, Samuel "Sammy" Kai, on 13 December 2008 in New York City.[17][18][19][20] After a temporary hiatus from acting, she returned to work with The International, her first project since becoming a mother.[21]
Watts is a close friend of Benicio del Toro, with whom she co-starred in 21 Grams. Watts is friends with actress Isla Fisher, and is godmother to The Mentalist's Simon Baker's oldest daughter, Stella. She is also best friends with fellow Australian actrees Nicole Kidman, after having met when they were in their teens during an audition. Watts even moved in with Kidman for a time as nanny to Kidman's, and her then husband Tom Cruise, children when Watts's own career had yet to gain commercial success.
After filming The Painted Veil , she became attracted to Buddhism, claiming, "I have some belief but I am not a strict Buddhist or anything yet. There was a lot of excitement and energy there."[22]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | For Love Alone | Leo's Girlfriend | |
| The Custodian | Louise | ||
| 1991 | Flirting | Janet Odgers | |
| 1993 | Wide Sargasso Sea | Fanny Grey | |
| Matinee | Shopping Cart Starlet | ||
| 1995 | Tank Girl | Jet Girl | |
| Persons Unknown | Molly | ||
| 1996 | Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering | Grace Rhodes | |
| 1997 | Under the Lighthouse Dancing | Louise | |
| 1998 | Babe: Pig in the City | Additional Voices | |
| The Christmas Wish | Renee | ||
| Dangerous Beauty | Guila De Lezze | ||
| A House Divided | Amanda | ||
| 1999 | Strange Planet | Alice | |
| 2001 | Mulholland Drive | Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn | |
| Down | Jennifer Evans | The Shaft in the U.S. | |
| Ellie Parker | Ellie Parker | (short film) | |
| Never Date an Actress | The shallow girlfriend | ||
| 2002 | The Ring | Rachel Keller | |
| Rabbits | Suzie | ||
| The Outsider | Rebecca Yoder | ||
| Undertaking Betty | Meredith | also released as Plots with a View | |
| 2003 | 21 Grams | Cristina Peck | Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress |
| Le Divorce | Roxeanne de Persand | ||
| Ned Kelly | Julia Cook | ||
| 2004 | I ♥ Huckabees | Dawn Campbell | |
| The Assassination of Richard Nixon | Marie Andersen Bicke | ||
| We Don't Live Here Anymore | Edith Evans | ||
| 2005 | King Kong | Ann Darrow | |
| Stay | Lila Culpepper | ||
| The Ring Two | Rachel Keller | ||
| Ellie Parker | Ellie Parker | (feature film) | |
| 2006 | The Painted Veil | Kitty Fane | |
| Inland Empire | Suzie Rabbit | (Voice) | |
| 2007 | Eastern Promises | Anna Khitrova | |
| 2008 | Funny Games | Anne | |
| 2009 | The International | Eleanor Whitman | |
| 2010 | Mother and Child | Elizabeth | In Post-production |
| Fair Game | Valerie Plame | In Post-production |
[edit] Television
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Hey Dad..! | Belinda |
| 1991 | Home and Away | Julie Gibson |
| Brides of Christ | Frances Heffernan | |
| 1993 | Gross Misconduct | Jennifer Carter |
| 1996 | Timepiece | Mary Chandler |
| Bermuda Triangle | Amanda | |
| 1997 | Sleepwalkers | Kate Russell |
| 1998 | The Christmas Wish | Renee |
| 1999 | The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer | Holly Maddux |
| 2000 | The Wyvern Mystery | Alice Fairfield |
| 2002 | The Outsider | Rebecca Yoder |
[edit] References
- ^ "Naomi Watts". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915208/. Retrieved on 2009-9-25.
- ^ "Naomi Watts". Inside the Actors Studio (Bravo). 2003-12-28. No. 5, season 10.
- ^ "Naomi Watts Biography (1968-)". filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/33/Naomi-Watts.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ "Naomi Watts Biography". Yahoo! Movies. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800180388/bio. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ Sams, Christine (2004-02-23). "How Naomi told her mum about Oscar". The Sun-Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/22/1077384633676.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ Mason, Nick (2004). Inside out a personal history of Pink Floyd. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Illustrated,. pp. 360 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.. ISBN 978-0-297-84387-0.
- ^ "Naomi Watts". BBC Online. 2006. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/halloffame/showbiz/naomiwatts.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ "Watts turns back on Australia". The Daily Telegraph. 2007-04-24. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21607413-5006002,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ Aspen, Richard (Interviewer); Watts, Naomi (Interviewee). (2007-09-11). Eastern Promises Interview. Sunrise.
- ^ Aussie Bub Blog: Naomi Watts reveals her plans to bring Alexander to Australia
- ^ Ellwood, Gregory (2007-10-23). "Casting News: Watts Feeding 'The Birds'". MSN. http://movies.msn.com/movies/hitlist/10-23-07_4/?gt1=7701. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ Singer, Leigh (2007-10-29). "Naomi Watts Q&A". IGN. http://movies.ign.com/articles/830/830970p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ "Naomi goes potty". The Courier-Mail. 2007-07-24. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22124731-5012980,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ Adler, Shawn (2007-07-25). "'Harry Potter' Casting Rumors Untrue, Say Actors' Reps". MTV Movies Blog. MTV. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/07/25/harry-potter-casting-rumors-untrue-say-actors-reps/. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
- ^ http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800180388/bio
- ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28920319/
- ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (2007-02-27). "Liev Schreiber: 'I'm Going to Be a Dad'". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20013570,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ Lynn, Megan (2007-07-26). "At Last! Naomi Watts Gives Birth to Baby Boy". Us Weekly. http://www.usmagazine.com/naomi_watts_2. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ Hamm, Liza; McNeil, Liz (2008-12-14). "Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber Have a Baby Boy". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20241745,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ Hamm, Liza (2008-12-15). "Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber Name Baby Samuel". People. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20246977,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.
- ^ Lee, Michael J. (2009-01-29). "Naomi Watts on 'The International'". RadioFree.com. http://www.radiofree.com/profiles/naomi_watts/interview04.shtml. Retrieved on 2009-02-13.
- ^ "Naomi Watts - Watts Drawn to Buddhism". Contactmusic.com. 2006-02-03. http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/watts%20drawn%20to%20buddhism_03_02_2006. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
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