by
Paul Fischer
The beautiful 34-year old British-born Naomi
Watts has come a long way since 2001’s 
Mulholland
Drive put her squarely on the international road
to stardom. Now, the Australian born actress is milking her spate
of success for all it’s
worth. "I think the
panic of
not working for ten years is still very much alive in me, and I’m now
starting to trust it a little bit and thinking, okay, I’ve got a little
bit
of a shot at this." Watts admits that she is finally "coming
to terms with
the fact that I really need to have some time off and slow down a bit." The
actress says after completing her next film, she will spend a few months
in
Europe "trying to spend time with my boyfriend," actor Heath
Ledger.
Naomi tries to maintain a degree of normalcy in her life,
and though reluctant to talk much about it, she admits that
she
is househunting when she has the time, everywhere from Los Angeles to Sydney.
"It’s
not a constant search, but
rather late nights on the web looking at apartments," she smiles.
The higher her profile, the more likely it is that stardom will encroach
into her privacy. Watts says that she doesn’t go out of her way to protect
herself from the unwanted celebrity aspects of her profession. "Nobody
asks
for that, and nobody says: I want to be some famous entertainer. In my case,
I try and turn off to it, and stay away from reading stuff about myself.
On
the other hand, I don’t censor myself, and say well, I’m not
going to go out
today? What if this photographer or whatever is following you?"
In the
meantime, the actress’s film schedule heats up with the release of
the romantic comedy-drama Le Divorce, directed by James Ivory, as it tells
of two American sisters discovering the joys and pains of love and sex in
the City of Lights. Watts is would-be poet Roxy, who had been living in
Paris for several years with her French husband, who inexplicably deserts
her while she is pregnant with their second child. Watts was partially
attracted to the film because "it meant a free trip to Paris and eating
all
that wonderful French food", she says laughingly. But it was clearly
more
than that. "I think every element of this film is quite beautiful.
The Merchant Ivory team has created so many fantastic roles for women in
the
past, and the script was great, with this beautiful merging of both comedy
and drama, and it’s about life." Watts adds that there are certain
aspects
of her character she can relate to. "In the most specific way, I would
say
that the fact that she’s an outsider no matter where she is, in her
own family and in France, and I’ve moved around a lot, having grown
up in England and then going to Australia and even within England I went
to many
different schools. I know what it is to try to be the one person who’s
not
quite fitting in, but also enjoying that a little bit at times, being quite
different, and so I can relate to her in that aspect. But she’s also
in a
terrible crisis, and I still haven’t experienced that terrible crisis
as yet"
she says, referring to her character’s pregnancy. Playing a pregnant
character isn’t suddenly bringing
to the
surface Watts’ own maternal instincts. "My maternal feelings
are already
there and so it didn't change that. I know that I'd definitely like to
have children and I often start wondering when," she says.
Currently shooting David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabee's, alongside the likes of Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg and Dustin Hoffman, Watts has completed 21 Grams with Sean Penn, We Don't Live Here Anymore with Mark Ruffalo, is about to shoot a small role in another Sean Penn film The Assassination of Richard Nixon. She is alson in pre-production on Stay, with Ewan McGregor, not to mention her attachment to The Ring sequel. Although the actress says that is selective about what she chooses, she doesn’t maintain a fixed formula as to how she chooses a project. "I think it changes all the time and sometimes it’s not so clear. You can read the script and one scene can pop out to you or a lot of the time lately it’s been about the director for me because I think you’re really safe with a really good director."
Following the release of Le Divorce, a different side of Watts will unfold in the much anticipated 21 Grams, which will probably premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Not one who allows roles to linger, the actress says that shooting this intense drama was tough. "With 21 Grams I basically cried everyday for a month, and that really depressed me." From the Mexican writing-directing team behind the Oscar-nominated Amores Perros, 21 Grams interweaves stories about Christine, a single mother and former drug addict (Watts); Paul (Sean Penn), a terminally ill professor, who was (or still is) Christine's lover; and Jack (Benicio Del Toro), a reformed ex-convict. "I’m not going to talk too much about that film yet because I don’t want to give too much away, but it deals with grief, loss and a lot of other emotions." It was not an easy film to leave behind, she adds. "At the time that you’re making a film like that, it does tend to take over your whole mood. I was very devoted to the film and the character, and in order to make it authentic you do really try to get into the psyche and soul of that person, so It’s hard to not let it live inside you."
Watts was raised in England, her interest in acting begun while watching British films such as Darling and Don’t Look Now. "I grew up loving Julie Christie and that was who I grew up watching." She was about 14 when her widowed mother relocated the family to Australia and a new life. She made her screen debut in the Australian film For Love Alone in 1986, but didn’t really work again for another five years, in friend Nicole Kidman’s Flirting. The Australian miniseries Brides of Christ garnered her attention the same year, and her film career took off in fits and starts. Early film and TV roles in both the US and Australia included Gross Misconduct, The Wide Sargasso Sea, Tank Girl, Children of the Corn IV, Under the Lighthouse Dancing, The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer and Strange Planet. 10 years after Flirting, critics noticed Naomi’s depth of talent, and the roles poured in. Still close friends with the Kidman and Russell Crowe, after her European break, Watts will begin shooting Stay and says that she is committed to The Ring sequel. "I really liked that role, and it seemed to do well so, I’d be thrilled and excited to do it probably next year."