Born Naomi Ellen Watts
28 September 1968 (age 42)
Shoreham, Kent, England, UK
Occupation Actress
Years active 1986–present
Partner Liev Schreiber (2005–present; 2 children)
Watts gained critical acclaim following her work in the 2001 psychological thriller Mulholland Drive. She appeared in the 2002 hit horror film The Ring. In 2004, she received the nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress as well as for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for the 2003 drama 21 Grams. Other film roles include the 2005 remake of King Kong and the 2007 thriller Eastern Promises.
In 2006, Watts became a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which helps to raise awareness of AIDS issues.
Watts was born in Shoreham, Kent, England, the daughter of Myfanwy Edwards (née Roberts), a Welsh antiques dealer and costume and set designer, and Peter Watts, an English road manager and sound engineer who worked with Pink Floyd.
Watts has one brother, Ben, a year older and now a photographer residing in the United States. Watts's parents separated when she was four years old, and her father died during her childhood. Following her father's death, her mother moved the family to Llanfawr Farm, on Anglesey in North Wales, where they lived with Watts's maternal grandparents, Nikki and Hugh Roberts. During this time, she attended a Welsh language school, Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni, where she carried out her studies for several years. Watts described her mother (also an actress) 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, living there until Naomi was 14. Watts says that she wanted to become an actress since watching the 1980 film Fame.[citation needed] In 1982, the family moved to Sydney. 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". "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". ”
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.[citation needed] 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.
Early work, 1986–2000
Watts's career began in Australian television, where she appeared in commercials and series, including the soap opera Home and Away, the award winning mini-series 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. Much of her early career is filled with near misses in casting as she was up for significant roles in films such as The Parent Trap, Meet the Parents and Man on the Moon, roles would eventually go to other actresses. Gradually, Watts attracted supporting roles in films such as Dangerous Beauty.[citation needed]
Critical success, 2001–2004
Watts with filmmaker David Lynch at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001
In 2001, she starred in The Shaft directed by Dick Maas, which garnered poor reviews. 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. The surrealist film attracted controversy with its strong lesbian theme. Having worked with director/screenwriter Scott Coffey on Mulholland Drive, they teamed up to co-produce her next film, the semi-autobiographical Ellie Parker, which 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 film received favourable reviews; Watt's performance was praised by critics, including Paul Clinton of CNN.com, who stated that she "is excellent in this leading role, which proves that her stellar performance in Mulholland Drive was not a fluke. She strikes a perfect balance between scepticism and the slow realisation of the truth in regard to the deadly power of the videotape."
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 said of the nomination, "It's far beyond what I ever dreamed for – that would have been too far fetched". She also was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, as well as many other nominations and acclaim.
She produced and starred in the well-received independent film We Don't Live Here Anymore. The film is a drama which was based on the short stories We Don't Live Here Anymore and Adultery by Andre Dubus. She reunited with Sean Penn and Don Cheadle in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, in which she played Marie Andersen Bicke, the wife of Penn's character, Samuel J. Bicke. She also teamed up with Jude Law and Dustin Hoffman in David O. Russell's ensemble comedy I ♥ Huckabees.
2005–2008
Watts landed the lead role in the sequel to the Ring, The Ring Two. The film received several negative reviews, but was a major success at the box office, with a over $ 161 million worldwide gross. She starred in the 2005 remake of King Kong as Ann Darrow. The role, immortalised by Fay Wray in the original film, proved to be Watts's 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.
... you’d better know why you’re here as an actor ... I’m here to work out my shit, what my problems are and know who I am, so by cracking open these characters perhaps that shines a light on it a little bit better.
Watts with her partner Liev Schreiber.
Watts starred in the drama film The Painted Veil with Edward Norton and Liev Schreiber, released in December 2006. Her character in the film was Kitty Garstin Fane. Also that year, she provided the voice of a small role, Suzie Rabbit, in the psychological thriller film Inland Empire. The following year, she appeared in David Cronenberg's crime thriller Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen. The film was released to critical acclaim for the film itself and for her performance. Critic Matthew Turner of View London wrote that Watts "strikes an intriguing balance between strength and emotional vulnerability."
Funny Games, a 2008 remake of the 1997 Austrian film by director Michael Haneke, was co-starred Tim Roth. In the film, she portrayed the character of Ann Farber, the wife of Roth's character. The film opened on 20 October 2007 at the London Film Festival. The press has labelled 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). Watts has stated that there have only been "discussions" about the remake.
2009–present
Watts at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2009, Watts had the starring role alongside Clive Owen in the political thriller film The International. Her character was Eleanor Whitman, a Manhattan assistant district attorney who partners with the agent to take down the bank. In an interview, she said about her role: "She was operating in this fast-moving world and was a great bouncing board for her colleague, Salinger, but also trying to balance that with motherhood as well, and I think I definitely relate to that now and hopefully other career mothers will too." The International was well received by critics and grossed over $ 60 million worldwide.
She next appeared in the American drama Mother and Child, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. She personified the role of Elizabeth, a lawyer who never knew her biological mother. The film offered her the chance to act with the actors Annette Bening, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. Mother and Child received several favourable reviews, and Watts' performance was praised by Tom Long of Detroit News, who stated that she "has the ability to make such a ragged transition somehow work." She was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at the Australian Film Institute Awards. She is also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Supporting Female.
The comedy-drama You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – starring Watts – opened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2010. She portrayed Sally, a woman who has a troubled marriage with author Roy (played by Josh Brolin). Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch and Anthony Hopkins also co-starred in the film. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $26 million worldwide.
In January 2010, she was cast for the thriller film Dream House, which will be directed by Jim Sheridan. She starred in the film Fair Game, which opened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, and was later released in the United States on 5 November 2010. The film, based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, also marks the third pairing of Watts with Sean Penn after 21 Grams and The Assassination of Richard Nixon. Watts was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Actress for her performance in Fair Game. Last winter she also wrapped up in Thailand The Impossible, with Ewan McGregor, slated to be released in 2011.[citation needed]
In early 2011, Watts was cast in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role. Watts will play Edgar's secretary Helen Gandy.
In October 2010, it was announced that Watts had landed the role of Marilyn Monroe in the film Blonde, which was set to start shooting in January 2011, but has been delayed.
Charity work
In 2006, Watts became a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, it helps to raise awareness of AIDS issues. She has used her high profile and celebrity to call attention to the needs of people living with this disease. Watts participates in events and activities, including the 21st Annual AIDS Walk. She is presented as an inaugural member of AIDS Red Ribbon Awards. She has participated in campaigns for fundraising.
On 1 December 2009, Watts was meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and joined the AIDS response at a dramatic public event commemorating World AIDS Day 2009. During the event, she said:
“ “It has been both unfortunate and unfair for HIV infection to be considered a shameful disease, for people living with HIV to be judged as blameworthy, and for AIDS to be equated with certain death. I have personally seen that dignity and hope have been strongest among those whose lives were changed by HIV.” ”
Personal life
Her father's manic laugh can be heard in Pink Floyd's "Speak to Me" and "Brain Damage" from The Dark Side of the Moon. 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.
Watts was in a relationship with director Stephen Hopkins in the 1990s and actor Heath Ledger from August 2002 to May 2004. Since the spring of 2005, Watts's partner has been the actor Liev Schreiber. She confirmed in an interview in late January 2009 that Liev had in fact given her a ring (which she was not wearing at the time) but that neither of them wanted to rush into marriage. Liev, known to play tricks on the media, had once before called her his wife in 2007, but later revealed that it was a joke.
The couple's first son, Alexander "Sasha" 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. After a temporary hiatus from acting, she returned to work with The International, her first project since becoming a mother. Watts stated in April 2010 that she would have a third child if she could guarantee a baby girl.
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 son, Claude. She is also best friends with fellow Australian actress 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 the children of Kidman and her then husband Tom Cruise 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."
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1986 For Love Alone Leo's Girlfriend film debut
The Custodian Louise
1991 Flirting Janet Odgers
1993 Wide Sargasso Sea Fanny Grey
Matinee Shopping Cart Starlet
1995 Tank Girl Jet Girl
1996 Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering Grace Rhodes
Persons Unknown Molly
1997 Under the Lighthouse Dancing Louise
1998 A House Divided Amanda
Dangerous Beauty Guila De Lezze
Babe: Pig in the City Additional Voices
The Christmas Wish Renee
1999 The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer Holly Maddux TV movie
Strange Planet Alice
2000 The Wyvern Mystery Alice Fairfield TV movie
2001 Never Date an Actress The shallow girlfriend
Ellie Parker Ellie Parker Short film
Down Jennifer Evans The Shaft in the U.S.
Mulholland Drive Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
Outfest – Screen Idol Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
National Board of Review for Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Village Voice Film Poll – Best Lead Performance
Nominated – American Film Institute Award for Best Actres
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actress
2002 Rabbits Suzie
The Ring Rachel Keller Saturn Award for Best Actress
Undertaking Betty Meredith Also released as Plots with a View
The Outsider Rebecca Yoder TV movie
2003 Ned Kelly Julia Cook
Le Divorce Roxeanne de Persand Venice Film Festival – Wella Prize also for 21 Grams
21 Grams Cristina Peck Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Independent Spirit Awards – Special Distinction Award
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Venice Film Festival – Audience Award
Venice Film Festival – Wella Prize also for Le Divorce
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
2004 We Don't Live Here Anymore Edith Evans
I Heart Huckabees Dawn Campbell
The Assassination of Richard Nixon Marie Andersen Bicke
2005 The Ring Two Rachel Keller Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Scream Scene Best Actress
Stay Lila Culpepper
Ellie Parker Ellie Parker (feature film)
Seattle International Film Festival – New American Cinema Award – Honorable Mention
King Kong Ann Darrow International Cinephile Society Award for Best Actress
London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Saturn Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Australian Film Institute International Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Empire Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
2006 Inland Empire Suzie Rabbit (Voice)
The Painted Veil Kitty Fane
2007 Eastern Promises Anna Khitrova Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actress
2008 Funny Games Ann Farber Nominated – Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Actress
2009 The International Eleanor Whitman
2010 Mother and Child Elizabeth Joyce Nominated – Australian Film Institute International Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger Sally
Fair Game Valerie Plame Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated – St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
2011 Dream House Ann Patterson (post-production)
The Impossible Dr. Maria Belon (filming)
Movie 43
2012 J. Edgar Helen Gandy (filming)
