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NAOMI WATTS BIOGRAPHY |
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Born in Britain and raised in Australia, Watts
began acting in her teens, landing her first film role in For
Love Alone (1986). Watts subsequently appeared with future
Hollywood headliners Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton in John
Duigan's disarming teen romance Flirting (1991). Watts's next
film with Duigan, Wide Sargasso Sea (1992), was not so well
received. After her first taste of Hollywood with Joe Dante's
schlock movie homage Matinee (1992), Watts nabbed a starring
role as Jimmy Smits's disturbed student in George Miller's
little seen courtroom drama Gross Misconduct (1993). Watts then
starred as Jet Girl to Lori Petty's Tank Girl (1995), but the
science fiction fantasy suffered an ignominious box office fate.
After a series of TV movies and thrillers, including
Sleepwalkers (1997) and Children of the Corn IV (1996), Watts
appeared in Marshall Herskovitz's high-toned Venetian courtesan
costumer Dangerous Beauty (1998) and successful TV docudrama The
Hunt for the Unicorn Killer (1999).
Watts's breakthrough finally arrived when David Lynch cast her
in his ABC pilot Mulholland Drive. Though ABC canceled the
project in 1999 after Lynch turned in a typically mood-drenched
work, StudioCanal financed its transformation into a feature
that debuted to acclaim at Cannes in 2001. A Los Angeles
dreamscape akin to Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive featured Watts
as the blonde half of a female duo caught in a mystery of
shifting identities. Drawing attention for her not-for-network
TV love scene with co-star Laura Harring, Watts also earned
praise as a rising "new" actress.
Though Mulholland Drive didn't exactly set box office records,
Watts's tour-de-force dual performance earned her numerous
accolades and critics' awards, igniting her career. Working
steadily in the wake of Mulholland Drive, Watts scored a box
office as well as critical success a year later with The Ring
(2002), the Hollywood remake of the Japanese horror blockbuster.
Starring Watts as an intrepid reporter investigating the origins
of a lethal videotape, The Ring overcame studio doubts to become
a sleeper hit, solidifying Watts's new star status. Watts
subsequently donned period dress for the Showtime western The
Outsider (2002), and to co-star alongside fellow Aussie Heath
Ledger in The Kelly Gang (2003). Balancing her genre work with
potentially headier fare guided by notable directors, Watts also
appeared with Kate Hudson, Glenn Close and Stockard Channing in
the Ismail Merchant - James Ivory romantic comedy Le Divorce
(2003), and won a leading role opposite formidable actors Sean
Penn and Benicio Del Toro in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21
Grams (2003). |
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