| Naomi Watts - born on September 28, 1968 - is a British-Australian actress.
Biography:
Naomi Watts was born in Shoreham (county Kent) Great Britain, on September 28, 1968 to Peter Watts and Myfannwy (Miv) Roberts. Her mother sold antiques and her father was the sound engineer of the popular Pink Floyd rock group. When Naomi was four years old her parents were divorced and when Naomi was just seven, her father died. In search of better life, Mrs. Watts, with two children (Naomi and her brother Benjamin is presently a popular photographer in the USA, who is older than Naomi by 2 years) traveled half of Britain and eventually decided to shift the family to Sydney, Australia, the native home of her mother. By then, Naomi was 14.
In childhood, thanks to mother, who played in local amateur theater, Naomi also took a great interest in acting. After completing acting school Naomi visited numerous auditions where she met Nicole Kidman, who is to date, Naomi’s best friend. In 1986, she bagged a small role in the film “For Love Alone”, which was her first work as an actress.
At the age of 18 Naomi decided to attempt modeling and was hired through an agency, for work in Japan. After a year of struggle in modeling, she understood that it was not her “cup of tea” and returned back to Australia. Now, she appeared on the other side of the modeling business and started working as a correspondent in a fashion magazine. After a number of trials and mistakes in the selection of her profession, at last she realized that her true love was to become an actress.
Soon Watts got a small role in the film “Flirting” (1991) with Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton and also in the Australian mini-series, where she acted in a film with future Australian star Russell Crowe. The director of the film “Flirting” John Duigan invited Naomi to do his next film — “Wide Sargasso Sea” (1992).
After this the young actress relocated to Los Angeles. The first Hollywood experience for Naomi Watts was “Matinee” (1993). Neither this nor the other roles played by her in the 1990s (“Tank Girl”, “Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering”, “Dangerous Beauty”, “Strange Planet” and others) made Naomi a star.
Film career:
David Lynch's film “Mulholland Drive” paved the path towards glory for Noami Watts. It’s magical, since the highway intersecting the City of Angels, is also called Mulholland Drive, on which Naomi very frequently drove the car in an attempt to disappear after subsequent unsuccessful auditions. The strange dual personality portrayed by the actress in “Muklholland Drive” (originally made as pilot project for a TV-series) was her first major role. The film byDavid Lynch, which was nominated for an “Oscar” and received the “Best Director” award in Cannes brought huge rewards to Noami including the award from the American Film Critics Association.
“Mulholland Drive” was the launching pad for the career of Naomi Watts. Her subsequent roles — Ellie Parker in the film with same name (for this role, Naomi received an award of “Best Actress” in short films at the festival in Sundance) and the journalist Rachel Keller in the thriller-blockbuster “The Ring”, which grossed 230 million USD, have consolidated the reputation of the star, after which the actress was showered with offers. Among the best films of Naomi Watts: “ 21 Grams” with Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn, which brought her an “Oscar” award in the “Best Actress” category, “The Assassination of Richard Nixon” again with Sean Penn, “Le Divorce” with Kate Hudson and Glenn Close, “I Heart Huckabees” with Dustin Hoffman and Jude Law, and “Stay” with Ewan McGregor. Besides being an actress, Naomi has also turned into a producer (“Ellie Parker”, “We Don’t Live Here Anymore”).
In 2005, Peter Jackson’s film “King Kong” was released, in which Naomi played the love interest of the huge ape — Ann Darrow. She was not afraid to play the cult role of the girl of King Kong, which was earlier played by stars such as Fay Wray and Jessica Lange. In the following film “The Painted Veil”, Naomi Watts performs the role of an actress in the main role as well as a co-producer. It is the second screen version of the novel with the same name by Somerset Maugham (the first, with Greta Garbo was released in 1934).
Personal life:
Naomi Watts dated director Daniel Kirby, playwright Jeff Smeenge, director Stephen Hopkins and actor Heath Ledger, her co-star in the film “Ned Kelly”. Since 2005, Naomi was engaged to actor Liev Schreiber. In 2007, Naomi gave birth to their son Alexander Pete.
Naomi Watts is a good friend of Benicio del Toro, with whom she acted in the film “21 Grams”.
Interesting facts:
* At the age of 18, Naomi got her first role in movies — playing in the film “For Love Alone” (1986);
* Naomi is a vegetarian;
* In 2006, after tallying the votes (50 million people participated in the voting), French magazine FHM (For him magazine) published the list of sexiest women of world. Naomi Watts occupied second place (out of 100);
* Magazine WHO published the list of the most beautiful people of 2006 in which, Naomi Watts occupies second place (from 27). According to the results of the poll, conducted by the same edition, Naomi Watts was amongst the top ten most desired women from a number of representatives from show business.
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British actress Naomi Watts turned 40 last Sunday. She's best known for her roles in Mulholland Drive, the remake of King Kong, and The Ring. My personal favorite of Naomi's performances was her role in 21 Grams, which brought her the Academy Award nomination for the best actress. We wish her Happy (belated) Birthday and Academy Awards for her future roles!
