Naomi Watts life and biography

Naomi Ellen Watts is a British-Australian actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! (1990), Brides of Christ (1991), and Home and Away (1991). Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone. Her following portrayals included roles in B-class movies, such as the 1996 horror film Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering, as well as roles in television and independent movies.

Watts gained critical acclaim following her work in David Lynch's 2001 psychological thriller Mulholland Drive, starring alongside Justin Theroux and Laura Harring. The next year, she received public recognition for her participation in the box office hit horror film The Ring. In 2004, she received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress as well as for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Cristina Peck in Alejandro González Inarritu's 2003 drama 21 Grams, alongside Sean Penn. Other film roles include the 2005 remake of King Kong, the 2006 remake of The Painted Veil, the 2007 thriller Eastern Promises, and the 2009 thriller The International.

In 2002, she was included in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 2006, Watts became a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which helps to raise awareness of AIDS-related issues. She has participated in several fundraisers for the cause, and she is presented as an inaugural member of AIDS Red Ribbon Awards.
In 2005, Watts starred and co-produced with director/screenwriter Scott Coffey her next film, the semi-autobiographical drama Ellie Parker, which depicted the struggle of an Australian actress in Hollywood. Movie critic Roger Ebert praised Watts' performance: "The character is played by Watts with courage, fearless observation, and a gift for timing that is so uncanny it can make points all by itself."

Watts returned in the lead role in the sequel to the Ring, The Ring Two. The film received several negative reviews, but was a major success at the box office, with a over US$161 million worldwide gross (equivalent to US$181.1 million in 2011). She starred in the 2005 remake of King Kong as Ann Darrow. The role, portrayed by Fay Wray in the original film, proved to be Watts' most commercially successful film yet. Helmed by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, the film won high praise and grossed US$550 million worldwide (equivalent to US$618.7 million in 2011). The Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised her performance: "The third act becomes a star-crossed, "Beauty and the Beast" parable far more operatic and tragic than anything the original filmmakers could have imagined exquisitely pantomimed by Watts with a poignancy and passion that rates Oscar consideration."

About the evolution of her portrayals, Watts stated: "You'd better know why you're here as an actor ... I'm here to work out my shit, what my problems are and know who I am, so by cracking open these characters perhaps that shines a light on it a little bit better ... I know myself. I mean, of course I know myself better but the journey and search continue because hopefully we're evolving and growing all the time.

Watts starred in the 2006 remake of the 1934 film The Painted Veil with Edward Norton and Liev Schreiber. Watts played in the film Kitty Garstin, the daughter of a prominent scientist, that marries Walter Fane (Norton) for his reputation as a physician and bacteriologist. The movie centers in the relationship of the couple at the time they move to China, were Fane is stationed to study infectious diseases. Comparing her portrayal with Greta Garbo's in the original movie, The San Francisco Chronicle wrote "Watts makes the role work on her own terms — her Kitty is more desperate, more foolish, more miserable and more driven ... and her spiritual journey is greater.
Also that year, she provided the voice of a small role, Suzie Rabbit, in the psychological thriller film Inland Empire.The following year, she appeared in David Cronenberg's crime thriller Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen. The film was released to critical acclaim for the film itself and for her performance.A moderate box office success, it grossed US$56 million worldwide (equivalent to US$63 million in 2011). Critic Matthew Turner of View London wrote that Watts "strikes an intriguing balance between strength and emotional vulnerability."

In 2008, she appeared in Funny Games, a 2008 remake of the 1997 Austrian film by director Michael Haneke, alongside Tim Roth. In the film, she portrayed Ann Farber, who with her husband and son are held hostage by a pair of sociopathic teenagers. The film opened on 20 October 2007 at the London Film Festival.
In 2009, Watts starred alongside Clive Owen the political thriller The International. She played a Manhattan assistant district attorney who partners with the titular agent to take down a bank. During an interview, Watts commented on her role: "She was operating in this fast-moving world and was a great bouncing board for her colleague, Salinger, but also trying to balance that with motherhood as well, and I think I definitely relate to that now and hopefully other career mothers will too."The International was well received by critics, and grossed over US$60 million (equivalent to $61.5 million in 2011). worldwide.

She next appeared in the American drama Mother and Child, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. She portrayed the role of Elizabeth, a lawyer who never knew her biological mother. Watts co-starred the movie along with Annette Bening, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. Mother and Child received several favourable reviews, and Watts' performance was praised by Tom Long of Detroit News, who stated that she "has the ability to make such a ragged transition somehow work." She was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at the Australian Film Institute Awards. Watts was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Supporting Female.

Her next movie, the Woody Allen comedy You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, opened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2010. She portrayed Sally, a woman who has a troubled marriage with author Roy (played by Josh Brolin). Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch and Anthony Hopkins also co-starred in the film, which received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over US$26.
In January 2010, she was cast in the thriller film Dream House, which was released in September 2011. Directed by Jim Sheridan, Watts starred in the film along with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz. In October 2010, it was announced that Watts had landed the role of Marilyn Monroe in the film Blonde, which was set to start shooting in January 2011, but has been delayed. In early 2011, Watts was cast in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role. Watts will play Edgar's secretary Helen Gandy.
Watts is also scheduled to star in the remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). Due to her frequent portrayals in film revivals, the press has labelled her the "queen of remakes". Watts has stated that there have only been "discussions" about the remake.

In 2006, Watts became a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, it helps to raise awareness of AIDS issues. She has used her high profile and celebrity to call attention to the needs of people living with this disease.Watts participated in events and activities, including the 21st Annual AIDS Walk.In 2011, she attended to a charity polo match in New York City along with Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Isla Fisher, which was intended to raise money to help victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Watts was in a relationship with director Stephen Hopkins in the 1990s and actor Heath Ledger from August 2002 to May 2004. Since the spring of 2005, Watts' has been in a relationship with the actor Liev Schreiber. She confirmed in an interview in late January 2009 that Schreiber had in fact given her a ring (which she was not wearing at the time) but that neither of them wanted to rush into marriage.Schreiber, known to play tricks on the media, had once before called her his wife in 2007, but later revealed that it was a joke. The couple's first son, Alexander "Sasha" Pete, was born on 25 July 2007 in Los Angeles, and their second son, Samuel "Sammy" Kai, on 13 December 2008 in New York City. After a temporary hiatus from acting, she returned to work with The International, her first project since becoming a mother. Watts stated in April 2010 that she would have a third child if she could guarantee a baby girl.

She considered converting to Buddhism after having gained interest for that religion during the shooting of The Painted Veil. She said of her religious beliefs, "I have some belief but I am not a strict Buddhist or anything yet". In 2002, she was featured in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.

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