Interview with Naomi Watts
Interview with Naomi Watts:
Q: Does your character resemble the real-life you?
A: “Ellie Parker” is a satire, but probably the closest to any truth in my life, in the sense of driving around and freaking out between auditions and during auditions, and allowing people to tell you who you are, and believing them and becoming that. That’s kind of why we made the movie, because it was a way of saying, “This is what you become if you’re not careful or if you don’t trust the essence of who you are.”
Q: Do you worry that being in such a big film as “King Kong” would change your life?
A: People worried for me, but I was determined to carry on as I always do. What’s the point? I manage to maintain the way I live and the things I do.
Q: How does someone as famous as you maintain a normal lifestyle?
A: I may be naive, but I think if you show up in the way I always show up, unannounced, no calling ahead, no five people around you, no one notices. There are times you have to arrive like that, when you’re in a workplace. But I just get out of bed, go to the store with wet hair, and no one looks.
Q: How do you stay in such good shape?
A: I’ve always been fairly athletic, and I keep a work-out regime of two or three times a week.
Q: Do you have input into the clothing your characters wear in movies?
A: With a period film like “The Painted Veil” you leave it up to the experts … Yes, I want to know that someone isn’t going to put orange on me, because I can’t wear orange. It makes my skin look disgusting … But I think that was a period that celebrated women. The flapper era was in the 1920s when women were just starting to show their knees; it was very rebellious. Women also cut their hair short so the neck would show. All those things help me get close to the character.
Q: Was it your decision to change your hair color?
A: Yes. Well, we fought over it too. (She laughs.) In the end, basically we arrived and I always saw Kitty as a brunette. I felt that it was somehow more exotic and stronger and it felt very authentic to the period. The director always saw Kitty as a blonde, so we had two wigs made and we did camera tests.
Q: You said “We fought over it.” Do you always fight for the right idea?
A: I’m always scared. I always have strong ideas. You fight for it, and then you’re suddenly thinking, “Oh, God, everyone is going to go along with what I’ve chosen. I hope it’s the right one.”
Q: Do you also have to fight for more screen time or to change a love scene that you don’t like?
A: Sometimes when you fight for what you believe is right for your character, you don’t want to come across as just an actor trying to buy more screen time. You want to have the character’s voice come from a point of view that is consistent with the film.
For me, it was important that the backstory was there, that we didn’t just get straight into the love story. At times there were temptations to get the story moving and really slim down the beginning. I really stood up for leaving in the backstory.
Q: Were you emotionally beat up after making the movie so far away from home, in China?
A: No, I actually felt the opposite. I arrived emotionally beat up. I’d just come off “King Kong,” which was so physically draining. I mean, eight months of 14-hour days jumping, running, being punched, pushed and pulled. It really did take its toll. So, this film was a luxury. The emotional aspect of it was exhausting, but we had a luxury of time.
Q: In “The Painted Veil” your character has a discussion about a woman loving a man for his virtues. Do you think nice guys get a bad rap?
A: Yes, I think that is true, particularly from women who are self-destructive, but hopefully a woman gets to a place where she wakes up and can see that a nice man is what she needs.
Q: Was it hard to film such passionate love scenes?
A: Not really. I find myself anticipating them a lot. I’m thinking, “How do we see this? How are we going to play this? How much am I going to show?” But, once I’m there, I’m there.
The love scene between Walter and Kitty is great because it’s such a pivotal point, and it’s almost animalistic, the hunger and the desperation to connect with a human being.
But I really fought for having a tender moment so that they were able to be gentle and give in, and accept and receive. I think that scene expresses a lot.
Q: What did you think about your character, Kitty?
A: I liked Kitty from the first moment I read the script. She sort of leapt off the page. She was ahead of her time, or at least she thought she was, refusing to conform to conventions. She just got swept up in this frivolous world of who’s who and how one should look.
She can’t stand her family constantly breathing down her neck, saying “You’ve got to get married.” So when she gets a marriage proposal, it’s a form of escape. The fact that her intended is going to an exotic place makes it even more exciting.
Then when she has the affair, she’s continuing to be a self-destructive person. When her husband stops punishing her, I just love her transformation.
Source: ShanghaiDaily.com
