Naomi Watts is a British actress and producer known for her work in Australian and American film, television and video games. Watts emigrated with her family to Australia from the UK at the age of 14, and made her debut in the 1986 Australian film For Love Alone. She then pursued a brief career in the fashion industry, first as a model and later as a fashion editor. After attending a drama workshop, Watts quit her editing job and pursued acting as a career. She appeared in the sitcom Hey Dad..! (1990), and the soap opera Home and Away (1991). Her first lead role was in the 1993 thriller Gross Misconduct, where Watts played a student who seduces her teacher, and then accuses him of rape.

She transitioned to Hollywood productions in the mid to late 1990s starring in the science fiction film Tank Girl (1995), horror film Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996), and biographical drama Dangerous Beauty (1998). Watts played an aspiring actress in David Lynch's neo-noir film Mulholland Drive (2001), which was her breakthrough role and garnered her international recognition. She then starred as journalist Rachel Keller in the horror remake The Ring (2002), and reprised the role in its sequel The Ring Two (2005). Watts portrayed a grief-stricken mother with a history of substance abuse in the Alejandro González Iñárritu-directed 21 Grams (2003), for which she garnered nominations for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Watts played Ann Darrow in Peter Jackson's monster film remake King Kong (2005), for which she won the Saturn Award for Best Actress. She also reprised her role voicing Darrow in the video game adaptation, for which she was nominated for a Spike Video Game Award for Best Performance by a Female. Five years later, she portrayed CIA officer Valerie Plame in the biographical drama Fair Game (2010) with Sean Penn. In 2011, Watts played FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's secretary Helen Gandy in the biographical drama J. Edgar with Leonardo DiCaprio. The following year, she starred as a doctor who is caught up by the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami with her family in The Impossible (2012). For her performance, Watts received nominations for Best Actress at the Oscars and Golden Globe Awards.

She reteamed with Iñárritu on the 2014 black comedy Birdman. In 2017, Watts starred in the third season of Lynch's television series Twin Peaks and as a psychologist in the psychological thriller series Gypsy which she also executively produced. She played Queen Gertrude and Mechthild in the romantic drama Ophelia (2018). Two years later Watts portrayed Fox News journalist Gretchen Carlson in the miniseries The Loudest Voice (2019).

Film

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes	Ref(s)
1986	For Love Alone	Leo's girlfriend
1991	Flirting	Janet Odgers
1993	Matinee	Shopping Cart Starlet
1993	Wide Sargasso Sea	Fanny Grey
	Gross Misconduct	Jennifer Carter
	The Custodian	Louise
1995	Tank Girl	Jet Girl
1996	Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering	Grace Rhodes
	Persons Unknown	Molly L. Chenoweth
1997	Under the Lighthouse Dancing	Louise
1998	A House Divided	Amanda	Short film
	Dangerous Beauty	Giulia De Lezze
	Babe: Pig in the City	Additional voice
1999	Strange Planet	Alice
2001	Never Date an Actress	Shallow Girlfriend	Short film
	Ellie Parker	Ellie Parker	Short film; also producer
	Down	Jennifer Evans
	Mulholland Drive	Betty Elms / Diane Selwyn
2002	Rabbits	Susie	Short film series
	The Ring	Rachel Keller
	Plots with a View	Meredith Mainwaring
2003	Ned Kelly	Julia Cook
	Le Divorce	Roxeanne de Persand
	21 Grams	Cristina Peck
2004	We Don't Live Here Anymore	Edith Evans	Also producer
	The Assassination of Richard Nixon	Marie Andersen Bicke
	I Heart Huckabees	Dawn Campbell
2005	Ellie Parker	Ellie Parker	Also producer
	The Ring Two	Rachel Keller
	Stay	Lila Culpepper
	King Kong	Ann Darrow
2006	Inland Empire	Susie
	The Painted Veil	Kitty Fane	Also producer
2007	Eastern Promises	Anna Khitrova
	Funny Games	Ann Farber	Also executive producer
2009	The International	Eleanor Whitman
	Mother and Child	Elizabeth
2010	You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	Sally
	Fair Game	Valerie Plame
2011	Dream House	Ann Patterson
	J. Edgar	Helen Gandy
2012	The Impossible	Maria Bennett
2013	Movie 43	Samantha	Segment: "Homeschooled"
	Adoration	Lil	Also executive producer
	Sunlight Jr.	Melissa
	Diana	Diana, Princess of Wales
	The Last Impresario	Herself	Documentary; also associate producer
2014	Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)	Lesley Truman
	St. Vincent	Daka
	While We're Young	Cornelia Schrebnick
2015	The Divergent Series: Insurgent	Evelyn Johnson-Eaton
	The Sea of Trees	Joan Brennan
	Demolition	Karen Moreno
	3 Generations	Maggie	Also executive producer
2016	The Divergent Series: Allegiant	Evelyn Johnson-Eaton
	Chuck	Linda Wepner
	Shut In	Mary Portman
2017	The Book of Henry	Susan Carpenter
	The Glass Castle	Rose Mary Walls
2018	Ophelia	Queen Gertrude and Mechthild
	Vice	Fox News Anchor	Uncredited cameo
2019	Luce	Amy Edgar
	The Wolf Hour	June Leigh	Also executive producer
2020	Penguin Bloom	Sam Bloom
2021	Boss Level	Jemma Wells
	The Desperate Hour	Amy Carr	Also producer
	This Is the Night	Marie Dedea	Also executive producer
2022	Infinite Storm	Pam Bales	Also producer
	Goodnight Mommy	Mother	Also executive producer
2024	Emmanuelle †		Post-production
TBA	The Friend †		In production; also executive producer
TBA	Harmonia †	Rita	Pre-production

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1990	Hey Dad..!	Belinda Lawrence	2 episodes
1991	Brides of Christ	Frances Heffernan	5 episodes
1991	Home and Away	Julie Gibson	19 episodes
1996	Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle	Amanda	Television film
1996	Timepiece	Mary Chandler	Television film
1997–1998	Sleepwalkers	Kate Russell	9 episodes
1998	The Christmas Wish	Renee	Television film
1999	The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer	Holly Maddux	Television film
2000	The Wyvern Mystery	Alice Fairfield	Television film
2002	The Outsider	Rebecca Yoder	Television film
2011	Sesame Street	Herself	Episode: "Goodbye Pacifier"
2014	BoJack Horseman	Herself (voice)	Episode: "One Trick Pony"
2017	Twin Peaks	Janey-E Jones	10 episodes
2017	Gypsy	Jean Holloway	10 episodes; also executive producer
2019	The Loudest Voice	Gretchen Carlson	7 episodes
2019	Bloodmoon	Unknown	Unaired pilot
2020	Secrets of the Zoo: Down Under	Narrator (voice)	10 episodes
2022	The Watcher	Nora Brannock	7 episodes; also executive producer
2024	Feud: Capote vs. The Swans	Babe Paley	Season 2; also executive producer

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
2005	Peter Jackson's King Kong	Ann Darrow (voice)	Based on the film

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Naomi Watts