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Naomi Watts

Highest Rated: 100% The Friend (2024)

Lowest Rated: 5% Movie 43 (2013)

Birthday: Sep 28, 1968

Birthplace: Shoreham, Kent, England, UK

British actress Naomi Watts rebounded from early career doldrums to enjoy a successful run in a diverse array of films in the 2000s, including Oscar-nominated turns in "21 Grams" (2003) and "The Impossible" (2012), as well as such popular features as "The Ring" (2002), "I Heart Huckabees" (2004), "King Kong"(2005) and "While We're Young" (2014). Born Naomi Ellen Watts on September 28, 1968 in Kent, England, she was the daughter of Peter Watts, a road manager and sound engineer for the UK rock band Pink Floyd, and Welsh costume and set designer Myfanwy Edwards. Her parents split when Watts was four years of age, and her father died three years later of an apparent heroin overdose, which left Edwards to raise Watts and her older brother, Ben, through acting and design jobs. The family relocated several times during Watts's childhood before settling in Australia during her teenage years; there, after failing to graduate from school and then dabbling in modeling, marketing and magazine editorial work, she decided to follow her childhood interest in acting. Her first screen role came at the age of 18 in the 1986 Australian feature "For Love Alone," but it would be five more years before she earned a follow-up, thanks largely to fellow actress Nicole Kidman, whom she had befriended while the two pursued modeling jobs as teenagers. Kidman introduced her to director John Duigan at the premiere of her 1991 thriller "Dead Calm," and Watts was subsequently cast alongside Kidman and Thandie Newton in his 1991 film "Flirting." After roles in several Australian television projects, Watts accepted Kidman's request to come to Los Angeles, but the trip proved largely fruitless, save for a minor role in Joe Dante's sci-fi/comedy "Matinee" (1993). She then returned to Australia for supporting turns in several films, including Duigan's "Wide Sargasso Sea" (1993), before deciding to make Los Angeles her permanent home, but again, film projects proved elusive. Watts enjoyed a starring role in "Tank Girl" (1995), a sci-fi comedy based on the UK comic series of the same name. It failed to connect with audiences, and Watts spent much of the next five years in a largely negative cycle of underwhelming projects, like "Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering" (1996) and voice work in "Babe: Pig in the City" (1998), and failing to land roles in "The Devil's Advocate" (1997) and "Meet the Parents" (2000). But in 1999, Watts was cast in a television pilot for David Lynch called "Mulholland Drive"; the surreal, psychological thriller failed to secure pick up for series, but with backing from French investors, he completed the project as a feature film. "Mulholland" proved to be a huge critical success, with Watts reaping much of the praise, as well as a Best Actress Award from the National Society of Film Critics. More importantly, the film was a springboard for Watts's move into starring roles, beginning in 2002 with "The Ring," an American remake of the Japanese horror film about a cursed videotape. A huge box office hit, Watts followed "Ring" with an eclectic array of projects: she reunited with Lynch for a series of short films under the umbrella title of "Rabbits" (2002), then teamed with Heath Ledger for a remake of the Australian western "Ned Kelly" (2003) before moving into arthouse territory for "Le Divorce" (2003), a drama by James Ivory and Ismail Merchant. It proved to be a box office disappointment, but its follow-up, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "21 Grams" (2003), was not only a critical hit but also a personal success for Watts. As a grieving wife who convinced schoolteacher Sean Penn, who received her late husband's heart in a transplant, to avenge his murder, Watts earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Again, the success of the film led to a wave of projects for the actress, including the indie "We Don't Live Here Anymore" (2004) and David O. Russell's comedy "I Heart Huckabees" (2004), before moving into blockbuster territory with Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong" (2005), for which she played the monster's unrequited love, a role originated by Fay Wray in the original 1933 version. Its colossal success allowed Watts to devote her energies to films and directors that intrigued her, which led to collaborations with David Cronenberg in "Eastern Promises" (2007), German director Michael Haneke in a 2007 English language remake of his excruciatingly tense thriller "Funny Games", Tom Twyker on "The International" (2009), and Clint Eastwood on his biopic "J. Edgar" (2010). She would then net a second Oscar nomination as a woman struggling to find her family in the wake of a tsunami in J.A. Bayona's "The Impossible" (2012), but subsequent projects would vary wildly in terms of quality and response. She shared a Screen Actors Guild Award with her castmates for Inarritu's Oscar-winning "Birdman" (2012), and was featured in "Insurgent" (2015) and "Allegiant" (2016), the second and third entries in the popular "Divergent Series" of science fiction thrillers. But indies like "Adore" (2013) and "St. Vincent" (2014) were met with tepid reviews, while her turn as Princess Diana in 2013's "Diana" and Gus Van Sant's "Sea of Trees" (2015) received critical brickbats, a fate which also befell "Shut In" (2016) and her Netflix series "Gypsy" (2017), with Watts as a therapist who became intimately involved with her patients. But her next television effort, "The Loudest Voice," which cast her as news journalist Gretchen Carlson opposite Russell Crowe's Roger Ailes, was a critical hit, and Watts was soon announced as part of HBO's prequel series to "Game of Thrones" (2011-2019).

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Highest rated movies

100% The Friend
Watchlist
100% 83% Periodical
Watchlist
91% 77% Luce Watchlist 91% 78% Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Watchlist
89% 83% Eastern Promises
Watchlist
86% 83% I Am Heath Ledger Watchlist
84% 87% Mulholland Dr.
Watchlist
84% 51% While We're Young Watchlist
84% 50% King Kong
Watchlist
82% 63% The Bleeder Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
18% No Score Yet Emmanuelle Margot Parson (Character) - 2024
100% No Score Yet The Friend Unknown (Character),
Executive Producer
- 2024
100% 83% Periodical Self - 2023
37% 35% Goodnight Mommy Mother (Character),
Executive Producer
- 2022
56% 55% Infinite Storm Pam Bales (Character),
Producer
$1.6M 2022
27% 15% The Desperate Hour Amy Carr (Character),
Producer
- 2021
14% 48% This Is the Night Marie Dedea (Character),
Executive Producer
- 2021
74% 78% Boss Level Jemma Wells (Character) - 2021
66% 79% Penguin Bloom Sam (Character),
Producer
- 2020
44% 44% The Wolf Hour June Leigh (Character) - 2019
91% 77% Luce Amy Edgar (Character) $2.0M 2019
58% 81% Ophelia Gertrude/Mechtild (Character) $50.7K 2018
52% 70% The Glass Castle Rose Mary (Character) $17.2M 2017
21% 63% The Book of Henry Susan Carpenter (Character) $4.2M 2017
86% 83% I Am Heath Ledger Self - 2017
82% 63% The Bleeder Linda (Character) $320.7K 2016
5% 23% Shut In Mary (Character) $6.9M 2016
11% 41% The Divergent Series: Allegiant Evelyn (Character) $66.2M 2016
30% 44% 3 Generations Maggie (Character),
Executive Producer
$66.4K 2015
17% 44% The Sea of Trees Joan Brennan (Character) $14.0K 2015
54% 55% Demolition Karen Moreno (Character) $1.8M 2015
29% 58% The Divergent Series: Insurgent Evelyn (Character) $130.1M 2015
84% 51% While We're Young Cornelia Srebnick (Character) $7.6M 2014
91% 78% Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Lesley (Character) $42.3M 2014
77% 78% St. Vincent Daka (Character) $44.1M 2014
63% 32% Sunlight Jr. Melissa (Character) - 2013
7% 26% Diana Princess Diana (Character) $331.6K 2013
33% 42% Adore Lil (Character),
Executive Producer
$317.1K 2013
5% 24% Movie 43 Samantha (Character) $8.8M 2013
82% 84% The Impossible Maria (Character) $19.0M 2012
44% 44% J. Edgar Helen Gandy (Character) $37.3M 2011
7% 36% Dream House Ann Patterson (Character) $21.3M 2011
No Score Yet No Score Yet Corrections Unknown (Character) - 2011
78% 65% Fair Game Valerie Plame (Character) $9.5M 2010
45% 34% You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger Sally (Character) $3.2M 2010
79% 76% Mother and Child Elizabeth (Character) $1.1M 2009
57% 37% The International Eleanor Whitman (Character) $25.5M 2009
89% 83% Eastern Promises Anna (Character) $17.1M 2007
53% 54% Funny Games Anna Farber (Character),
Executive Producer
$1.3M 2007
74% 85% The Painted Veil Kitty Fane (Character),
Co-Producer
$8.0M 2006
72% 75% Inland Empire Talking Rabbit (Voice) - 2006
52% 43% Ellie Parker Ellie Parker (Character),
Producer
$34.4K 2005
84% 50% King Kong Ann Darrow (Character) $218.1M 2005
26% 69% Stay Lila Culpepper (Character) $3.6M 2005
21% 33% The Ring Two Rachel Keller (Character) $75.9M 2005
No Score Yet 64% King Kong: Peter Jackson's Production Diaries Unknown (Character) - 2005
65% 54% We Don't Live Here Anymore Edith Evans (Character),
Producer
$2.0M 2004
63% 75% I Heart Huckabees Dawn Campbell (Character) $12.8M 2004
67% 69% The Assassination of Richard Nixon Marie Byck (Character) $697.8K 2004
55% 53% Ned Kelly Julia Cook (Character) $74.9K 2003
80% 86% 21 Grams Cristina Peck (Character) $16.2M 2003
35% 26% Le Divorce Roxeanne Walker (Character) $9.1M 2003
40% 67% Undertaking Betty Meredith (Character) - 2002
No Score Yet 76% The Outsider Rebecca Yoder (Character) - 2002
71% 48% The Ring Rachel Keller (Character) $128.6M 2002
84% 87% Mulholland Dr. Betty Elms (Character) $0 2001
20% 19% Down Jennifer Evans (Character) - 2001
No Score Yet 18% The Wyvern Mystery Alice Fairfield (Character) - 2000
No Score Yet 44% Strange Planet Alice (Character) - 1999
70% 85% Dangerous Beauty Guila De Lezze (Character) $4.6M 1998
No Score Yet 72% The Christmas Wish Renee (Character) - 1998
No Score Yet 83% Under the Lighthouse Dancing Louise (Character) - 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet Timepiece Mary Chandler (Character) - 1996
14% 31% Persons Unknown Molly (Character) - 1996
No Score Yet 25% Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering Grace Rhodes (Character) - 1996
No Score Yet No Score Yet Bermuda Triangle Amanda (Character) - 1996
45% 62% Tank Girl Jet Girl (Character) $3.8M 1995
No Score Yet 35% Gross Misconduct Jennifer Carter (Character) - 1993
No Score Yet 20% The Custodian Louise (Character) - 1993

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Variety Studio: Actors on Actors Guest 2024
86% 78% Feud Babe Paley (Character) 2024
No Score Yet 28% The Drew Barrymore Show Guest 2022 2024
No Score Yet 44% The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Guest 2017 2019 2022 2024
54% 35% The Watcher Nora Brannock (Character),
Executive Producer
2022
No Score Yet No Score Yet Secrets of the Zoo: Down Under Narrator 2020-2022
No Score Yet 18% The Late Late Show With James Corden Guest 2021
No Score Yet 42% Jimmy Kimmel Live! Guest 2008-2009 2013 2015-2016 2021
55% 94% The Loudest Voice Gretchen Carlson (Character) 2019
No Score Yet 50% The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Guest 2017 2019
94% 83% Twin Peaks: The Return Janey-E Jones (Character) 2017
40% 84% Gypsy Jean Holloway (Character),
Executive Producer
2017
No Score Yet 61% Late Night With Seth Meyers Guest 2016-2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen Guest 2017
No Score Yet No Score Yet Conan Guest 2015
No Score Yet No Score Yet Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Guest 2010-2012
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Ellen DeGeneres Show Guest 2012
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sesame Street Unknown (Guest Star) 2011
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Daily Show Guest 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sleepwalkers Unknown (Character) 1997-1998 2001
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mystery! Unknown (Character) 2000