Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is an award winning British-Australian actress and occasional producer. Born in Shoreham, Kent in the UK and raised in Australia before moving to America, Watts struggled in the movie scene for some time, taking on small roles in films she has since admitted were "shit" to pay the rent, before being cast by David Lynch in the lead role for his project Mulholland Dr.. Her performance as Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn won critical acclaim and the attention of some major players in Hollywood and beyond. She has since enjoyed success in a far greater choice of film roles, balancing her resume with box-office successes like Gore Verbinski's 2002 remake of the Japanese horror film Ringu and deeper roles in indie films such as 2003's 21 Grams, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress that many felt was long overdue.
In addition, Watts had a relationship with late actor Heath Ledger (she allegedly had to talk him into starring in 2005's Best Picture nominee Brokeback Mountain) from August 2002 to May 2004 before breaking up with him in 2005 and later meeting actor Liev Schreiber in the spring of 2005. They have since had two children together. They later broke up in the fall of 2016.
Her father, Peter Watts, used to be Pink Floyd's road manager. Notably, both her parents contributed spoken word vocals to The Dark Side of the Moon.
Films in which she appeared with pages on this wiki:
- Matinee (1993)
- Tank Girl (1995)
- Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996)
- Dangerous Beauty (1998)
- Mulholland Dr. (2001)
- The Ring (2002)
- 21 Grams (2003) (Academy Award nominated for Best Actress)
- Ned Kelly (2003)
- I Heart Huckabees (2004)
- King Kong (2005)
- Stay (2005)
- Inland Empire (2006)
- The Painted Veil (2006)
- Eastern Promises (2007)
- Funny Games (2007)
- The International (2009)
- Dream House (2011)
- J. Edgar (2011)
- The Impossible (2012) (Academy Award nominated for Best Actress)
- Movie 43 (2013)
- Birdman (2014)
- 3 Generations (2015)
- The Sea of Trees (2015)
- Divergent film series (2015-2016)
- Shut In (2016)
- The Book of Henry (2017)
- Twin Peaks (2017)
- Ophelia (2019)
- Boss Level (2021)
Tropes found in her work include:
- Break the Cutie: She's subjected to a lot of it in her films. Her character in The Impossible gets swept up in a tsunami, almost drowns, winds up with major open wounds in her leg which then get infected, and spends much of the film believing that her husband and two of her sons have drowned. One reviewer referred to it as "The Passion of Naomi Watts".
- Covers Always Lie: After she became a success with Mulholland Drive and The Ring, one of her earlier and, well, not quite as good, films The Shaft was released on DVD with packaging that leads one to believe that she's the star, when she's really the protagonist's sidekick/love interest.
- Does Not Like Shoes: She frequently appears barefoot in her movies and in real life. On an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, she even explicitly mentions
that she doesn’t understand how women wear high heels every day. She then takes off her shoes and does the remainder of the interview in her bare feet. - Everyone Loves Blondes: Except in The Painted Veil (and Tank Girl, but let's not go there). As for the Divergent film series, we'll see.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: She's 5'4, which makes her this when paired with taller co-stars. She was also this in real-life with 6'3 Liev Schreiber.
- Large Ham:
- In The Ring. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM MEEEEEE!" and perhaps
most infamously, The Ring Two's "I'm not your fucking mommy!" - Dawn Campbell became rather hammy herself.
- In The Ring. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM MEEEEEE!" and perhaps
- Lipstick Lesbian: She plays one in Mulholland Dr., although the events as shown are purposefully opaque.
- Meganekko: In Tank Girl.
- Ms. Fanservice:
- Even when her character is modestly clothed, her films always find ways to subject her for a Male Gaze. Her character in I Heart Huckabees is a model for the titular company and thus spends much of her screen time half-naked. However, near the end she undergoes an awakening and spends the rest of the film wearing baggy overalls and a bonnet, leaving Fuckabe-uh, Huckabees; and King Kong (2005) in particular made a lot of effort to give her a chunk of legs and Foot Focus.
- Averted in The Impossible where her breast is clearly seen but she has a massive uncomfortable at sight wound.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Pretty rarely, but it does happen in a couple of her films.
- Remake: She's been in The Ring, King Kong (2005), The Painted Veil and Funny Games.
- What Could Have Been:
- She played in the pilot of a potential spinoff series for Game of Thrones. HBO wasn't thrilled with it and it got cancelled in favor of the prequel called House of the Dragon. Said pilot has yet to be seen outside of HBO's producers' circle.
- She was considered for the part of Miranda Tate/Talia in The Dark Knight Rises before Marion Cotillard was cast for the role.
