| Entertainment Weekly June 28, July 5 2002 issue |
| It Quick-Change Artist: Naomi Watts Age: 33 Why her? She�s the talented starlet who almost wasn�t born. cast as the lead in David lynch�s TV series Mulholland Drive, Watts saw her big break vanish when ABC rejected the show . . . then reappear last year in the auteur�s big-screen re-vamp. her chameleonic segue from perky innocent to despairing psychotic suffused Drive with gravitas and lent the actress an appealing mystery. �I�m just full of contradictions,� says the English-born Watts, who considers herself Australian (her family immigrated there when she was 14). � Maybe it�s because I�m a Libra.� Why directors love her: �She�s got guts,� says Gore Verbinski, who directs her in her next big film, Ring. �She expects nothing from an audience and in doing so is able to create roles that transcend the accepted norms of a particular genre.� Influence: Debby Harry. �When I was 8, I choreographed dance routines to my Blondie albums.� Career low: Children of the Corn IV. �I just wanted to work.� (ok i need to comment on this. She sucks, COTC4 is a great movie.) Role Model: Julianne Moore. �She has such a wonderful balance between commercial films and indie movies. As an actress, you can�t tell what age she is or what class she�s from. She covers the spectrum.� Next: Fall�s DreamWorks thriller Ring, and 2003�s Merchant Ivory opus Le Divorce. |