Naomi Watts Biography

Naomi Watts (born September 28, 1965) is an English-born Australian actress and producer, most famous for her starring role in The Ring films, as well as her recent portrayal of Ann Darrow in Peter Jackson's remake of the 1933 horror epic, King Kong.

Biography

Naomi Watts was born in Shoreham, Kent, England, where she lived until the age of eight. Her parents, Peter and Myfanwy Watts had separated when she was four years old, and when she was seven her father died. Following her father's death, her mother relocated the family to the town of Llangefni (more specifically Llanfawr Farm, a district of Llangefni), in Northern Wales, where they lived with Naomi's grandparents, Hugh and Nikki Roberts. Although her mother occasionally moved the family around Wales and England, usually to follow boyfriends, she always ended up returning to Llangefni. She lived there until she was 14. Then, during a trip to Australia, her mother became convinced that there was "the land of opportunities" and moved the family to Sydney in 1982. Her grandmother, Nikki, was Australian, which made it easier to obtain the documentation necessary, since Naomi and her family were entitled to Australian citizenship.

Naomi Watts's father was a sound engineer with Pink Floyd (his manic laugh kicks off Dark Side of the Moon) and her mother is described by Watts as a hippie "with passive-aggressive tendencies" who used to threaten to send her and her brother to foster care in order to convince her grandparents to take care of the family, since her mother had virtually no money after her father's passing.

In Sydney, Naomi Watts attended several acting schools (and in the very first lesson in the first school, she met Nicole Kidman, with whom she shared a taxi home from class). In 1986 she took a break from acting and went to Japan to work as a model, but the experience was fruitless, and Watts describes it as one of the worst periods of her life, which lasted for about four months. Upon returning to Australia, Watts went to work for a local department store and from there she went to work as assistant fashion editor with an Australian fashion magazine. She only returned to acting when a casual invitation from a colleague to participate in a small play rekindled her passion for the scenic arts and prompted her to quit her job and dedicate herself completely to making it as an actress.

Naomi Watts first appeared in television commercials and then the drama series Home and Away in 1988 in the role of Julie Gibson. Her first big break came with the 1995 movie Tank Girl with the part of Jet Girl.

In 1997 she appeared in the short-lived series Sleepwalkers with Bruce Greenwood.

In 2001, Naomi Watts appeared in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, a performance which won high praise. The quality and size of Watts' roles improved after Mulholland Drive, and she starred in the highly successful US remake of The Ring, a Japanese horror movie. In 2004 she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance in the film 21 Grams.

Watts had recently been connected to the role of Vesper Lynd, the female lead in the upcoming James Bond film, Casino Royale. Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, and Sienna Miller all reportedly turned down the role, but Eva Green was finally selected for the role.

While filming the 2006 film The Painted Veil, Naomi Watts publicly confessed an obsession with Buddhism and her conversion to the ancient faith. She described feeling attracted to the belief system and professed a new lifestyle which included meditation and the appearance of Buddhist malas on her wrist.

Naomi Watts has also been linked to numerous actors. She dated Heath Ledger for several years, was involved with indie director Daniel Kirby, and is currently seeing Liev Schreiber. She is a close friend of fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman and Benicio Del Toro, who she co-starred with in the film "21 Grams."