Hollywood in the Hamptons: Naomi Watts
By Lee Meyer
If you spend a significant amount of time in the Hamptons, you’ve probably run into a celeb or two. Maybe you saw Bill O’Reilly or Michael Strahan at one of Dan’s Taste of Summer events, Christie Brinkley in North Haven or Susan Lucci out and about in Quogue.
Let’s be real—you totally went home and Googled whichever star you ran into. There’s a ton of information out there, obviously. But we’re trying something different. Hollywood in the Hamptons is a simple but useful curated guide to Hamptons celebs.
Naomi Watts, a powerhouse actress known for both blockbusters and smaller, art house pictures, has owned property in Sagaponack with husband Liev Schreiber for several years. The two recently separated after buying a home in Montauk. Watts, originally from the United Kingdom, has quite an impressive list of credits and accolades.
Naomi Watts
Five Fun Facts
Watts was cast as Betty Elms in David Lynch’s ABC pilot Mulholland Drive, which wasn’t picked up to series. When Lynch retooled the pilot into a film and reinterpreted the character, Watts was highly praised for the role.
Watts was offered a role in the Aussie drama A Country Practice but turned it down because she didn’t want to be stuck doing soap operas. She later admitted her choice was naive!
The blonde actress was named one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in 2002.
Her father, Peter Watts, is a road manager and sound engineer who worked with Pink Floyd.
Watts is an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and is a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
Five Movies You Need to See
Mulholland Drive: The movie that made Watts a breakout star, Mulholland Drive is a psychological thriller about a young aspiring actress who finds herself in the middle of a mysterious conspiracy. Or is it? The movie, structured like a puzzle, showcases Watts’ wide range as an actress and demands multiple viewings.
21 Grams: Watts received an Academy Award nomination for this drama, also structured in a nonlinear way. In the film, Watts plays a recovering addict whose life is turned upside down when her family is killed in a hit-and-run accident.
The Ring: A remake of a Japanese horror film, The Ring tells the story of a woman (played by Watts) who uncovers a terrifying videotape said to be cursed while investigating her teenage niece’s death. The imagery and mythology in The Ring is very scary, and one scene involving Watts and a horse is downright terrifying.
The Impossible: Watts received her second Academy Award nomination for her work in this film, about a family caught up in the 2004 tsunami in Thailand.
Eastern Promises: In this crime drama by David Cronenberg, Watts plays a young nurse who finds the diary of a teenage girl who died while giving birth in the hospital and unintentionally sets off a war within the Russian mob.
More on Watts:
Vetted Hamptons Resources
