Naomi Watts is an accomplished actress, consistently receiving rave reviews and
accolades for her many performances. In 2004, she was honored with an Academy
Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu’s "21
Grams."
Her performance in "21 Grams," in which she starred alongside Sean Penn and Benicio
Del Toro, also garnered Best Actress Awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics
Association, Southeastern Film Critics Association, Washington Area Film Critics and
San Diego Film Critics, as well as Best Actress nominations from the SAG Awards,
BAFTAs, Broadcast Film Critics and Golden Satellites. At the film’s premiere at the
2003 Venice International Film Festival, she received the Audience Award (Lion of the
Public) for Best Actress.
Prior to starring in Rodrigo Garcia’s "Mother and Child," Watts recently starred in Tom
Twyker’s "The International" opposite Clive Owen, as well as David Cronenberg’s
drama/thriller "Eastern Promises" opposite Viggo Mortensen and Michael Haneke’s
thriller "Funny Games." She recently completed production on Doug Liman’s "Fair Game"
where she stars alongside Sean Penn. Her next project is the Untitled Woody Allen
"London Project" where she will star alongside an all-star cast including Antonio
Banderas, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins.
Watts has had an impressive list of movies since her acclaimed debut in David Lynch’s
controversial drama "Mulholland Drive," in which she earned Best Actress Awards from a
number of critics’ organizations, including the National Board of Review and National
Society of Film Critics. In addition to starring as ‘Ann Darrow’ in Peter Jackson’s epic
remake of "King Kong;" her credits include "We Don’t Live Here Anymore," in which she
starred and produced; "The Assassination of Richard Nixon" opposite Sean Penn and
Don Cheadle; David O. Russell’s "I (Heart) Huckabee’s" with Jude Law and Dustin
Hoffman; Marc Forster’s "Stay" opposite Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling; Gore
Verbinski’s "The Ring" and the sequel "The Ring 2; Merchant-Ivory’s Le Divorce" alongside
"Kate Hudson," "Glenn Close" and "Stockard Channing;" and John Curran’s "The Painted Veil"
opposite Edward Norton, which was based on W. Somerset Maugham’s novel.
Born in England, Watts moved to Australia at the age of 14 and began studying acting.
Her first major film role came in John Duigan’s "Flirting". She produced and starred in the
short film Ellie Parker, which screened in competition at the 2001 Sundance Film
Festival. In 2005, a full length feature of the short debuted at Sundance.
Among her many awards and recognitions, Watts received the Montecito Award from
the Santa Barbara Film Festival in 2006 for her role in "King Kong;" was honored by the
Palm Springs Film Festival in 2003 for "21 Grams;" and in 2002, she was named the
Female Star of Tomorrow at ShoWest and received the Breakthrough Acting Award at
the Hollywood Film Festival, both for "Mulholland Drive."
Watts currently resides in Los Angeles and New York.