Watts, Naomi

Naomi Watts was born on September 28, 1968 in Shoreham (Kent, England ^[5] ), in the family of Peter Watts (1946-1976) and Mifannwi (Meeve) Roberts. Her mother was selling antiques ^[6] , and her father until 1974 was the road manager for the Pink Floyd group ^{[7] [8]} . Maternal grandfather, Watts was a Welsh, and maternal grandmother was an Australian ^{[9] [10]} .

When Naomi was four years old, her parents divorced ^[11] . And when she was seven years old, her father died from a heroin overdose ^{[12] [13]} . In search of a better life, Mrs. Watts with two children (Naomi’s brother Benjamin, now a famous photographer in the US, is 2 years older) went around half of England and finally decided to move her family to Australia , Sydney, to her mother’s homeland ^{[ 14]} . Naomi had turned 14 by then.

As a child, thanks to her mother playing in the local amateur theater, Naomi also got involved in acting. After graduating from acting school, Naomi attended numerous auditions, where she met Nicole Kidman , who is still her best friend. .

In Australia, Watts attended high school Mosman and high school girls of North Sydney ^[15] . She was unable to finish school, after which she worked as a carver and was in charge of managing a delicatessen shop in the rich northern coast of Sydney .

She decided to become a model at the age of 18 and signed a contract with a modeling agency that sent her to Japan , but after several unsuccessful auditions she returned to Sydney. There she was hired to work in a department store advertisement, which attracted the attention of Follow Me magazine, which hired her as an assistant fashion editor. The occasional invitation to take part in a theater workshop inspired Watts to quit his job and become an actress ^[16] .

As for her nationality, Watts said: “I consider myself British and I have very happy memories of Great Britain. I spent the first fourteen years of my life in England and Wales and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia, I often returned to England ” ^[17] . She also emphasized her connections with Australia, saying: “I think I’m very connected with Australia, in fact, when people say where the house is, I’m talking to Australia because these are my most powerful memories” ^[18] .

Leading Roles

At eighteen, Naomi Watts decided to try herself as a model and hired, through an agency, to work in Japan . After a year of struggle in this business, she realized that it was “not her” and returned home. Now she was on the other side of the modeling business - she began working as a correspondent in fashion magazine. After a series of trials and mistakes in choosing a profession, she nevertheless realized that her true vocation was to be an actress.

Careers Watts began on television, where she starred in commercials. Her film debut was the 1986 film “ Just for love , Based on Christina Stead's best-selling eponymous ^[19] . Then she appeared in two episodes of the fourth season of the Australian sitcom “ Hey, Dad ..! , In 1990. After a five-year absence in the cinema, Watts met with director John Digan , during the premiere of her friend Nicole Kidman’s film “ Dead Calm ” in 1989, and he gave her a supporting role in her film Flirt (1991) ^[20] .

The film received critical acclaim and was included in the list of the "ten best films of 1991" ^[21] . Also in 1991, she played Francis Heffernan, a girl who tries to find friends outside the walls of the Sydney Catholic School ^[22] , in the television series "The Brides of Christ " ^[23] , and had a recurring role in the soap opera" Home and on the road ", playing Julie Gibson ^[24] . Watts was then offered a role in the dramatic series "A Country Practice", but she refused it, not wanting to "get stuck on television for two or three years," she later called this decision "naive."

Soon, Watts managed to get small roles in the movie " Flirt " (1991) with Nicole Kidman and Tandy Newton, as well as in the Australian mini-series, where she starred with another future Australian star - Russell Crowe . The director of "Flirting" John Dygan invited Naomi and in his next film - " Sine Seastless Sea " (1992).

After that, the young actress went to Los Angeles . Naomi Watts' first Hollywood experience is The Day Session (1993). Neither this nor the other roles she played in the 1990s (“ Tank Girl ”, “ Children of Corn 4: Harvesting ”, “ Honest Courtesan ”, “ Alien Planet ” and others) did not bring great popularity to the beginning actress.

Breakthrough

In 1999, director David Lynch began casting for his psychological thriller Mulholland Drive (2001). Not seeing any of the previous works of Watts, he immediately offered her a leading role. Lynch later said why he chose Naomi Watts: “I saw that it was someone I felt, she had tremendous talent, and I saw this someone who had a beautiful soul, intelligence and opportunities for many different roles therefore it was a beautiful person full of good qualities ” ^[26] .

Conceived as a pilot for a television series, Lynch took off most of it in February 1999, planning to keep it open to a potential series, but the pilot was rejected. Watts recalled, thinking at the time: “Just my stupid failure, that I'm in the only David Lynch program that will never see the light of day” ^[27] . Instead, Lynch made the ending in October 2000, turning it into a feature film.

The film, which also starred Laura Harring and Justin Theroux , was highly appreciated by critics and was an actor breakthrough Naomi Watts. She was praised by many critics, including Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian , who said: "The metamorphosis of Watts' faces miraculously transform from fresh beauty into a furious, tearful frown of ugliness" ^[28] . And Emanuel Levy , who wrote: "Naomi Watts, in a brilliant performance, is a young, wide-open and grotesquely cheerful blonde, full of great hopes of becoming a star in Hollywood" ^[29] .

The bizarre split personality shown by the actress in Mulholland Drive (originally filmed as a pilot project before the television series was staged) was her first star role. The David Lynch film, which won an Oscar nomination and won a prize for best direction at the Cannes Film Festival , brought Naomi Watts the first major awards, including the award of the American Film Critics Association.

Mulholland Drive marks the beginning of her career’s takeoff. Subsequent roles - Ellie Parker in the film of the same name (for this role, Naomi was awarded at the Sundance Festival as the best short film actress) and journalist Rachel Keller in the “Bell” blockbuster thriller, which collected almost $ 250 million for the blockbuster-blockbuster star, after which the actress showered offers.

Career Continue

Among the best projects Naomi Watts: who brought her an Oscar nomination “ 21 grams ” with Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn , “Kill the President” again with Sean Penn , “Divorce” with Kate Hudson and Glenn Close , “Crackers of the Heart” with Dustin Hoffman and Jude Law , “Stay” with Ewan McGregor . In addition, Naomi Watts was engaged in producing films “ Ellie Parker ” (2001), “ We do not live here any more (2004).

In 2005, Peter Jackson 's King Kong was released, in which Naomi played the role of a huge ape's lover, Ann Darrow. She was not afraid to perform the cult role of the girl King Kong, played before her by such stars as Fay Ray and Jessica Lange .

In her next film, The Painted Veil, Naomi Watts acts as both the leading actor and co-producer. This is the second adaptation of the novel of the same name by Somerset Maugham (the first, with the participation of Greta Garbo , was released in 1934). The plot of the film revolves around the relationship of a couple during their trip to China. In the same year, she voiced Susan the Rabbit in David Lynch 's psychological thriller Inner Empire .

Her next best known films were Funny Games (2007), International (2009), You'll Meet a Mysterious Stranger (2010) and J. Edgar (2011).

The great success of Naomi Watts brought the film " Impossible " (2012), a disaster film based on the real story of Maria Bennett and her family about the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake , the actress played a leading role, with her name changed to Maria Bennett. The film was well received by critics, had the highest-grossing outflow in Spain ^[30] , and amounted to $ 180.2 million (equivalent to $ 196.4 million in 2019) all over the world ^[31] .

Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter stated that “Watts carries a huge charge of emotion as beaten, constantly weakened Maria, whose tears of pain and fear never seem fake or idealized” ^[32] , while Justin Chang from Variety remarked, that she “has little equal in transmitting physical and emotional extremism, and that she mainly plays the role of a bedridden woman” ^[33] . Damon Wies of The Guardian felt that “Watts is both brave and vulnerable, and her scenes with young Lucas are among the best in the film” ^[34] . For this role, Naomi Watts was nominated for an Oscar , Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress, in 2013 ^[35] .

Among the recent works of the actress, the most famous films are “ Diana: A Love Story ” (2013), “ Saint Vincent ” (2014), “ Birdman ” (2014), “ Divergent, Chapter 2: Insurgent ” (2015) and “ Divergent, Chapter 3 : Behind the wall ”(2016).

In 2006, Watts became the goodwill ambassador for the joint UN program on HIV / AIDS , which helps raise awareness of the problems associated with this disease. She used her high profile and celebrity to draw attention to the needs of people living with this disease ^[36] . Watts participates in fundraising campaigns and events, including the 21st Annual AIDS Walk ^[37] . On December 1, 2009, Watts met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a public event on World AIDS Day 2009 ^[38] .

In 2011, Watts participated in a charity match in New York along with Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Ayla Fisher , who was designed to raise money to help victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti ^[39] . In 2012, she became ambassador for Pantene's Beautiful Lengths , a program that donates real hair for wigs to women who have cancer. She visited St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney to meet some of the women who are helped by the program ^[40] .

Family

The voice of her father can be heard in the songs “Pink Floyd”, “ Speak to Me ” and “ Brain Damage ” from their album “ The Dark Side Of The Moon ” (1973). ^[41] . Watts is depicted in the hands of his mother along with his father, brother, group and other team members in the autobiography of the Inside Out group, published by drummer Nick Mason ^[42] .

In February 2016, it was reported that the actress agreed to become the honorary president of Glantraeth FC , A small football club in Malltraeth , Anglesey , Wales , next to the farm of her grandparents, where she spent time in childhood ^[43] .

Relationships

Watts met with actor Heath Ledger from August 2002 to May 2004. ^[44] In the spring of 2005, Watts began dating actor Leo Schreiber . Their first son, Alexander "Sasha" Pete, was born on July 25, 2007 in Los Angeles , and the second, Samuel "Sammy" Kai, was on December 13, 2008 in New York . In September 2016, Watts and Schreiber announced their breakup after 11 years of relationship ^[45] .

Religion

Watts considered conversion to Buddhism after her interest in the religion had awakened during the filming of The Painted Veil (2006). She said about her religious beliefs: “I have a certain faith, but I am not yet a strict Buddhist or something like that” ^[46] .

Cinema

Television

• 2001 — « Элли Паркер »
• 2004 — « Мы здесь больше не живём "
• 2006 — « Разрисованная вуаль »
• 2007 — « Забавные игры »
• 2013 — « Тайное влечение "
• 2015 — « О Рэй "
• 2017 — « Цыганка »

Полный список наград и номинаций на сайте IMDb.com ^[47] .

• Наоми Уоттс (англ.) на сайте People.com