Naomi Watts

You can only take the jobs you're offered. She's over 50 and wants to work and is still getting movie offers. So she's taking them.

Naomi tried to make the necessary transition to TV but it hasn't worked out. She tried her own streaming TV series, and it was a flop. She was set to be the star of a Game of Thrones spinoff, and it was axed. The previous route for actresses of a certain age—become queen of the occasional TV movies—doesn't exist anymore outside of Hallmark.

She's also not first on producers' lists in that age group. If you have a big prestige TV miniseries, you're not going to ask Naomi Watts when you can get Nicole Kidman or Kate Winslet.

I realize she’s not going to get the Nicole/Kate offers, but she can’t even get some of the gigs going to Laura Linney, Vera Farmiga, Carrie Coon, Connie Britton, Charlize, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne, etc? She’s just as good (if it better) than any of them. But she has a real penchant for picking horrendous scripts.

She’s so good in “Mulholland Drive”.

Naomi must have an agent who hates her guts since she has been in a string of flops lately.

I agree she is very talented, but her range is limited, more limited than most of the actresses you mention, R2. (But not all: She would have brought more depth and warmth to Gilded Age than Carrie Coon.)

She broke out in Hollywood playing an ingenue (Betty in Mulholland Drive) and she still has that look.

There aren't too many parts for that type at age 53. Witness her being cast as Babe Paley in the second season of Feud.

It's also possible she has bad representation and/or not the best taste in material. She or her team really have picked a lot of lousy scripts.

out of all the trans celeb kids her mtf daughter is the most convincing…

She's very warm and vulnerable.

I think she should just whore herself out to the broadcast networks, say she's available for their dramas.

She would be a good matriarch in a sensitive family drama — the new Kate Lawrence in the Family remake DL is lobbying for.

I liked her in that recent movie where she helps get a guy off a mountain during a terrible storm.

Says it all that I can't remember the title and I saw the movie only two weeks ago!

But as I watched it solo (in an otherwise empty theatre) I thought: Damn, she is so good.

All in all, she was very good in "Mulholland Drive" and "The Impossible." Then one bomb after another.

I, too, watched the same movie as the OP, and I can't remember the name and had to quit watching after 30 min because it was so bad! Not disastrous or offensive, just an obvious waste of time! I used to get her confused with Emily Blunt, not anymore.

I just did a Google search for the title. "The Desperate Hour" was the name, and just scrolling through the reviews it seems almost every one thought it was exploiting a tragic subject (school shootings) by having her do little but run a lot and check her phone.

Maybe it's tine to move into the hag horror genre.

The bitch from THE RING? Basic.

Her star shot up with Mulholland Dr. (and deservedly so; she was incredible). She delivered an Oscar nod with 21 Grams and The Ring remakes were hits. She worked with Michael Haneke, David Cronenberg, and David O. Russell (before he really got big). On paper, signing onto Peter Jackson's followup to LOTR looked like a huge get, but really didn't do that much for her career in the end. And that was her big chance to gain more of a wider audience.

She also had Birdman (I remember she had a funny line-reading during a scene on stage with a gun) and she was also good as a cold bitch in Mother and Child. Since the early 2010s, it has mostly been bad luck coupled with bad choices. But sometimes it was a bad performance.

She worked with Eastwood, but after his prime, as it turns out. She worked with Gus Van Sant whose record is quite hit and (mostly) miss. Looks like she's working with him again with Feud. She worked with Noah Baumbach, but it was a forgettable comedy. She did a Woody Allen movie, but one of his lesser ones. She signed onto Colin Trevorrow's followup to Jurassic World and it was a flop. Everything Jean-Marc Vallée touched seemed to turn to gold, except the one project Watts signed onto. She has made some interesting choices, but they haven't done much for her, like Fair Game, Luce, Gypsy, Ophelia, Adore, and Return to Twin Peaks.

Diana was a turd as well. I don't know why she went forward with that. Signing onto the Divergent series sounded like a dumb choice after The Hunger Games was already going to get there first with similar material. The Glass Castle sounded like a bad idea as a movie, but Watts signed on. She does a lot of bad thrillers and horrors (Dream House, Shut In, The Wolf Hour, Boss Level, Infinite Storm [the other title no one here could recall], Desperate Hour, the upcoming The Watcher and Goodnight Mommy), as well as films about loving animals (Penguin Bloom, The Friend). Anyone who signed onto Movie 43 should be shamed.

St. Vincent was a small hit, but she delivered a cliche of a Russian accent.

Considering that she was the first and only star announced with Feud Season 2, her name helped get this to go forward. It sounds like more of an ensemble and it seems quite possible they'll hire lesser names who will be brought on because they'll nail the role and possibly outshine her.

I think R1 nailed it. And I'm not sure she'll have a chance to break the cycle unless she gets more discriminate with her choices. But, at age 54 (or so), it'll be quite challenging to change the course of her career atp, as there are more prestige actors in her age bracket to attract the great roles and directors. And I can't foresee David Lynch ever being really relevant again.

She was in In Eastern Promise a movie that I love.

Probably her problem was she first got noticed by Hollywood in a big way with Mulholland Drive and it was next to impossible to match that, so that everything she has done since seems so underwhelming when that really isn't the case.

She was sensational in The Painted Veil, very good in Birdman, Mother and Child and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger though she was upstaged in that by most of the other actors who had more entertaining characters to play.

Anyway, her place in Hollywood history is sealed with Mulholland Drive alone. Not many actresses around Watts age have a film or performance that great on their resume (looking at your Ms. Kidman).

Nicole has "Eye Wide Shut," the film that killed Stanley Kubrick. It cemented her place in the history of cinema.

R16 reminds me of McTeague on AwardsWorthy, haha.

But, yeah, Watts was sublime in Mulholland Dr., but Kidman has Eyes Wide Shut (She also has To Die For, The Others, and Birth).

I like her, but I’ve never heard of most of the movies mentioned here. I didn’t realize she’d been working that much !

R19 She hasn't stopped working since her breakthrough with Mulholland Drive when she was on the brink of giving up.

I don't blame actors for accepting whatever they can. At the end of the day it is about $$$ and she has kids that I'm sure she would like to leave in a comfortable position like most thespians.

She’s starring as Baby Paley in the second season of Ryan Murphy’s Feud. That should be a hit for her, at least with certain audiences, ie the DL.

She was a revelation in Mulholland Dr, and forgettable in everything after that. I’ve never seen another actress go from having so much on screen presence, to so little.

Like the poster above I liked her in Mulholland. But she reminds me so much of amy Adams, in that she gets over praised because critics like her pretty- but -damaged girl next door presence. Sometimes that energy works. I know woman in the window was a laughingstock but I actually thought it was a decent b list thriller and Adams vibes fit the role. But in so many other parts these women just seem fatigued and devoid of any life force. Mostly when I see Watts or Adams onscreen I wonder what an actress who didn't seem like she just took an Ambien might have done with the part.

Forgot about Birdman. She was actually very fun in that but I hated the movie deeply as a whole. Though I can't blame that on Watts. I just didn't like the style.

Wow, I forgot she was in Birdman. She does get upstaged a lot, doesn't she.

Maybe her new horror movie will give her a boost. She was great in The Ring.

[quote][I agree she is very talented, but her range is limited, more limited than most of the actresses you mention, [R2]. (But not all: She would have brought more depth and warmth to Gilded Age than Carrie Coon.

Naomi Watts is 53 and Morgan Spector is 41.

She was possibly going to be in Big Little Lies as Renata Klein, the Laura Dern role.

There's a movie on Netflix I watched where she is in a wheelchair and her family adopt a stray bird. That was quite nice and there were a few FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION moments in it. She got an AACTA nomination for it, alongside Rose Byrne in Peter Rabbit 2. Judy Davis won her 5th best actress award.

And I liked her in Le Divorce opposite Kate Hudson.

The fact that she was even in birdman says it all really. You remember Emma Stone, not her. I did like her in 21 Grams.

The Netflix series was such a terrible choice. That was her chance to transition to prestige TV, and she blew it by going for one of the worst projects Netflix has ever commissioned (and that’s saying something). I imagine other streamers/networks are reluctant to take a chance on her after that colossal misfire.

I think it’s criminal that she wasn’t Oscar nominated for Mulholland, but was for the tsunami movie. Another case of the Academy getting it utterly wrong.

She’s rumored to be icy and difficult to work with. She and Kidman are BFF’s for a reason.

Can’t Nicole throw her a bone and cast her in one of her many projects? Why wasn’t she in Big Little Lies, or the one about the wellness center on Hulu? Are they still close??

Met her a few times and she was rude every time without fail. Entitled and arrogant. Nicole Kidman, despite the icy veneer knows how to treat cast and crew. People like her in the industry. Plus, she’s ambitious and really goes after the parts she wants. Watts expects parts to fall into her lap and makes life miserable for everyone on set.

She’s over 50, what do people expect? It’s nice she hasn’t gone the way of bff Nicole with fillers, Botox, facelifts etc. She can still emote, so that’s something.

Also heard she’s a bitch.

When you're a supporting character to Lori Petty imitating Madonna on Who's That Girl, that's pretty bad.

[quote] Vera Farmiga

Speaking of, she was fantastic as Tony Soprano’s mom in the prequel movie.

Vera Farmiga is very underrated and versatile. I like that she's not the same person in every other role, unlike some performers.

Definition of B-list.

Let’s make this a Vera Farmiga thread.

Poor Naomi, not even relevant in her own thread.

[quote]And I can't foresee David Lynch ever being really relevant again.

Well, I spoke too soon. Apparently, Lynch has a secret film debuting at Cannes with Watts in it.

R26, the wheelchair film is called Penguin Bloom, and is a gentle Australian film based on a true story (and shot in the actual woman's house).

Further to R32, someone told me Nicole and Keith went to the earlier Oscars ceremony this year where the technical awards were given out, in contrast to most celebrities. Is that true?

R42 Yes it is. They were the only 'name' people to take the time to do that.

Haven't seen Penguin Bloom but understand the book for a big seller. The film also did well at the box office in Australia. How the fuck did that cunt Judy Davis get yet another award from the AFI for Nitram when all she did was just standing around and being herself. And besides her role was supporting.

I was about to blame it on Billy Crudup but y'all saying she's a bitch so....

I honestly find her a little plastic. Most of her acting in The Ring seemed like acting. She's very self-conscious as an actress.

She's worked with a lot of respected directors.

Peter Jackson

James Ivory

Clint Eastwood

Woody Allen

Michael Haneke

David O Russell

Alejandro González Iñárritu=

David Lynch

Noah Baumbach

Has Gretchen Carlson ever commented on whether she preferred Naomi or Nicole's portrayal of her?

That’s a really good summary, R14.

I think Naomi is forever a quirky actress, like it only worked in Mulholland Drive. I love her though.

She is annoyingly self-conscious with a spotty accent most of the time but she's managed to push through and been ballsy in a few parts, really stunning

No mention of Funny Games? One of the most masterful (and disturbing) horror films of the 00’s. She’s exceptional in it, her performance stayed with me long after credits rolled. I think she chooses risky projects simply because they’re often more interesting. Sometimes this pays dividends, other times it leaves her on shaky ground. But I do appreciate that she never makes the “safe” choice. How much of that is a matter of accepting whatever comes along out of necessity/a desire to work steadily, vs her personal preferences, I have no idea.

I've never found her particularly attractive.

R50 The less said about that train wreck the better. What worked well over 10 years prior for Michael Haneke went tumbling down like a house of cards. There is no reason for the re-make to exist because it has nothing to add to the story despite the 10 years difference whereby a somewhat different approach was needed for a society that had changed so much in such a short period of time.

Michael Haneke is clearly out of fucks to give. At least he came back bigger and better with The White Balloon, Amour and to a lesser extent Happy End. None of thankfully starring Naomi Watts.

[quote]Apparently, Lynch has a secret film debuting at Cannes with Watts in it.

He's now made it clear that this is a rumor:

I have no new film coming out. That's a total rumor. So there you are. It is not happening. I don't have a project. I have nothing at Cannes. It's unfortunate. It got built up that people thought, "Oh, that'd be nice." But there is something new, but it's not mine. I don't know whose it is. They say there's something new at Cannes, and they don't say whose it is, and some people thought it was my film, but it's not. So we'll wait and see, and see whose it is.

For a long time Watts and Jessie were attached to the story of Dare Wright, the disturbed model who authored “The Lonely Doll.” Lange would have played her weirdly controlling mother.

[italic] From Publishers Weekly: In 1957, The Lonely Doll made model/actress turned author/photographer Dare Wright famous. The children's book told the story of Edith, a lonely doll until two teddy bears—a father and son—come to live with her. This dark and painfully poignant biography, tells the story of the beautiful and creative Dare (1914–2001), who was separated from her own father and brother when she was three. Alone with her strong-willed, manipulative mother, Edie, Dare strove to please her, Nathan writes, "playing handmaiden to Edie's queen as Edie created their own private universe" of dressup and pretend. Their closeness becomes increasingly disturbing, keeping Dare a child even as she matures into womanhood. There's a suggestion by some who knew them of a sexual element in the relationship, but Nathan is careful not to speculate. With Edie's death near the end of the book the story loses some of its clarity, because despite having many friends, Dare doesn't know how to live without her mother; the downward spiral of her final years is horrifying yet incomprehensible. But this is a quibble, and doesn't detract from the fascinating and elusive girl/woman at the center of this story.

Interview with biographer:

R54 They are both too old now and the film has been in development hell for years now.

No one is trying to put Jessica Lange in a film since Y2K. Especially with that bestial hatchet job face

I think she’s ok. Pretty forgettable, but fine in a pinch when the other 100 actresses they called first weren’t available.

R1 Kate Winslet's done 2 TV movies, she's not faking everything from Naomi.

Kate Winslet in that horrible Holiday movie made me realize she had totally sold out. That movie is a shit show.

R50 that egg breaking scene was one of the creepiest movie scenes ever.

R2 I would argue that with the exception of Rose Byrne, those women are all better actresses.

[quote]Kate Winslet in that horrible Holiday movie made me realize she had totally sold out. That movie is a shit show.

The Holiday was a perfectly acceptable romantic comedy. It's not as good as Maeve Binchey's Tara Road which is essentially the same story but with Andie McDowell and Olivia Williams trading places.

Did Naomi and Kate have any scenes together in that Hunger Games thing with the Big Little Lies woman who married the anti vaxxer sportsman?

I love The Holiday. Cute movie. Was Naomi Watts in that one?

She has another Ryan Murphy show that should have finished filming by now. The Watcher. Based on the true story about a family who kept getting threatening letters etc after they bought a house. Jennifer Coolidge is in it too along with Bobby Cannavale and Mia Farrow. It sounds like it could be fun.

The Watcher should be great, assuming Ryan Murphy is involved in name only and wasn’t given the chance to fuck it up. The NY Mag article the show is based on was so so so creepy.

R66 Ian Brennan is running that show just like he did with Ratched and Halston.

Hmm Ratched was kind of a mess but I did enjoy Halston. As long as it’s not Ryan Murphy, my dog would make a better show runner.

I've never heard of her.

That lesbian kissing scene in Birdman is one of the most gratuitous things I've ever seen. Straight-up porno logic. I think it was the filmmakers getting their rocks off with legit actresses and getting away with it due to the project being fairly impressive.

You can also make a case for certain scenes in Muholland Dr. being too straight guy horny, but at least that film is a surrealist masterpiece.

She's so boring, kind of small and forgettable an energy.

The Holiday movie is nearly unwatchable with Cameron Diaz shaking her head like she has fleas to try and be sexy. She and Jude Law have the most cringe-inducing "relationship"possible. Kate Winslet has no chemistry with Jack Black and the personality of a wet mop throughout. It's just rubbish. I love how you see the dog that Winslet owns at the start of the movie and I don't think it ever returns. Did it starve to death? Probably.

She takes a lot of risks,. but does go for the safe choice at times (who doesn't?)

Zooey Deschanel sort of alluded that she refused to put out for Harvey Weinstein to get that role in St. Vincent. Naomi somehow ended up with it.

Some of the reviews for "The Desperate Hour" call it an instant camp classic. It has its moments, but not as memorably absurd as "The Book of Henry."

I've always been aware of Tank Girl, but never actually watched it. I don't think I even knew Naomi was in it until I saw people referencing it in there threads.

Of all her bad choices, the action movie with Mel Gibson is the only one that could not have looked good even on paper. So there is truly no excuse for that one. Mel Gibson alone should have been her cue to stay away,. Bad taste or seriously behind on bills.

She's made two movies now with Frank Grillo in the lead, the Mel Gibson movie being one of them. Hopefully she's getting some dick out of it.

It's quite funny how Watts' career is thought to have stalled or failed yet she's still considered more successful than her former husband Liev Schreiber.

He was good in things, like the Meg Ryan thingie with the time machine.

I would've preferred her in Big Little Lies instead of the shrill, ugly, and overrated Laura Dern.

She has distractingly large pores. And bad skin overall, particularly of late.

It's interesting how shy/sheepish she comes across, considering how much nudity she does. She even let Sean Penn suck on her nipples.

She has been ranging from boring to bad in everything I've seen her in besides Mulholland Drive. David Lynch really must be a miracle worker to derive great and memorable performances from usually not so great actors.

Isabella Rossellini is a beautiful and lovely woman, but nothing she's done has equaled Blue Velvet. Ditto hottie Kyle MacLachlan and his Lynch collaborations. Sheryl Lee gave one of the greatest performances of all time in Fire Walk With Me but has done zip since.

Laura Dern and Grace Zabriskie are the only consistently great performers he works with often. And obviously the late, great Harry Dean Stanton.

I still remember this quote from a review for King Kong (2005): "Naomi Watts is on a quest to outbland Nicole Kidman."

I stood in line next to her at Albertsons in Palm Springs earlier in the year. No make up, baseball cap pulled down, clearly just wanted to be left alone. She looks like a very short and skinny woman in her 50’s. I thought it was great that she hadn’t had any obvious work done to her face.

Naomi Watts has been making terible choices for movies lately. I don't know if it's because of her age and roles are drying up but her last movie Goodbye Mommy was Bland, Predictable and Stupid. I fast forward through most of the movie.

I'm pretty sure she has fillers, Botox, eye and neck lifts?

Naomi who?

She was in some movie with Mark Ruffalo and Laura Dern where she plays an uptight and tidy housewife having an affair with Ruffalo’s professor character. Dern does her usual overacting and ugly-cry.

I liked Watts in it.

We need a new David Lynch movie.

She's 54