Naomi Watts: Five Films for Newcomers
It’s strange to think that Australian star Naomi Watts almost gave up acting around twenty years ago, especially because she is so ingrained in cinema today. This was around the time of her big break, and we’re thankful that she hung on for a few more auditions. Now, Watts is everywhere, and in works of so many different genres and styles. It is her fifty second birthday today, and we’re using this opportunity — like always — to celebrate some of her best works. If you’ve seen Watts around but don’t know much of her filmography, this is the best place to start finding out more about her. Here are five films for newcomers to the works of Naomi Watts.
5. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Even though she has a smaller part in Birdman, Watts nails her role both on the stage (as she is an actress playing an actress) and off (dealing with the nonsense of her control freak boyfriend, who bombards the latest play she’s in, sadly as her own suggestion). In a time when Watts deserved the comeback (after that Diana biopic), she soared in Birdman, and made every moment her own.
4. The Impossible
One of the more surprising films in Watts’ canon is the Oscar bait darling The Impossible (which succeeded in garnering Watts her second Academy Award nomination). In a disaster film based on a real tsunami, there is the opportunity to oversell the situation. Not Watts, who tastefully recreates an authentic feeling of what such a crisis could represent to an affected family or community.
3. Eastern Promises
By 2007, Watts was extremely well known, having starred in major Hollywood works like the American remake of The Ring and Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Still, seeing her take on a more nuanced work by a Hollywood filmmaker that didn’t always play by the rules (David Cronenberg in this case) was refreshing, especially since Eastern Promises allowed her to own the screen as a central character as complex as Anna Khitrova.
2. 21 Grams
Before Birdman, Watts worked with Alejandro G. Iñárritu on the melodrama triptych 21 Grams. Being one of three lead performers with their own tales woven together, Watts still takes charge of the entire picture, as a recovering addict who sinks back into this painful world after her family is torn apart. Right after her turning point from a familiar face into a coveted actress, Watts showed the world what she could do, securing her first Academy Award nomination.
1. Mulholland Drive
David Lynch fans are greatly familiar with Naomi Watts’ capabilities, even in Twin Peaks: The Return (or the small cameos in the Rabbits portions of Inland Empire, and, of course, the shorts themselves). It all started with Mulholland Drive: a testament to Watts’ fantastic acting from early on (this was the film that jumpstarted her career after all). Taking on multiple roles (of sorts) — one satirical and one painfully real — Watts’ destiny was met with this peculiar film, and the rest (as they say) is history.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.