[Interview] Naomi Watts on her career and life at the present

Naomi Watts About ‘The Impossible’ and Being Diana

She’s passionate, vulnerable, and intense. Even in an ordinary conversation, waves of emotion can sweep over her face as her expression changes from one moment to the next. Having made a career of playing fragile and tormented women, Naomi Watts is set to take on yet another harrowing role in The Impossible, a film that recounts one family’s struggle to survive the devastating 2004 tsunami that killed over 230,000 people in southeast Asia and left over a million more homeless.

Watts and Ewan McGregor star as Maria and Henry Belon, a real-life British couple who become separated in the aftermath of the tidal wave that hit Thailand while they were spending their Christmas vacation together with their three young sons. With a badly injured Maria lying in hospital, Henry struggles to locate his missing wife and children. During the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, several audience members passed out during the cataclysmic scene when the tsunami strikes.

“I have a fear of being in the water ever since my brother and I were once caught in a tide, when we were teenagers,” Watts explains. “So it wasn’t hard for me to imagine the pure terror felt by the people who were caught in the tsunami. It’s beyond comprehension. But we tried to convey this family’s struggle to find each other and at the same time honour the memory of all the victims of this terrible catastrophe.”

The Impossible was filmed in Thailand at the very same location and hotel where the Belon family was staying when the tsunami struck on December 26th, 2004. Watts spent seven months working on the film, and spent nearly a month shooting scenes in a giant water tank to simulate the experience of being caught in the tidal wave the poured onto land and engulfed the region following a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean.

Though the 44-year-old Watts is no stranger to playing women in varying states of peril in films such as 21 Grams, The Ring, King Kong, and Funny Games – the ethereally beautiful actress is also taking on perhaps her riskiest role ever as Princess Di in the forthcoming biopic of the late and beloved royal.

“It’s daunting to play Princess Diana,” admits Watts. “There’s a lot of pressure on you because everyone has such strong impressions of her – but that’s also why you want to take up the challenge. I couldn’t not do it. She’s an iconic figure, she’s part of history and her story needs to be told.”

Watts makes her home in New York together with her partner of seven years, actor Liev Schreiber (Salt), and their two boys, Sasha (Alexander) 5, and Samuel, 3. They also enjoy vacationing at their Hamptons’ beach house in upstate New York.

For our interview Naomi Watts was wearing a white silk Dolce & Gabbana blouse and black skirt, her long blonde hair tied behind her back.

Naomi, what for you was the most important or interesting aspect about The Impossible?

It was the depth of emotion that holds this family together and how they struggled to the limits of human endurance to survive and find each other after being separated. I’m very attracted to stories which speak about families or the need to stay connected to one another. I found the film very moving and when an event like this occurs, everything is reduced to your love for your family. I think this kind of story will affect mothers and fathers and make you want to give your children a big hug before they go to sleep.

Does the title of the film have meaning beyond the catastrophic nature of the tsunami?

What was really “impossible” was for the family to go back home without feeling a survivor’s guilt about leaving. This kind of disaster will always stay with the people who survived it and Maria still feels strangely connected to Thailand because of all that she and her family experienced there. This kind of event makes for a great human story that gives sense and personal meaning to a tragedy so immense that it takes on an abstract quality. It doesn’t seem real. What makes the process even more affecting as an actor is that you are very much aware that this family actually went through this ordeal and a lot of the dialogue in the film is the actual words that they remember having spoken to each other at the time. We even shot scenes in the same hotel where the family was staying when the tsunami hit!

Did you have many discussions with the real Maria whom you were playing?

Yes. We were telling the story from Maria’s perspective and she was there on the set much of the time and was incredibly helpful to me. But it was difficult for me, especially when I first met her, to ask her a lot of personal questions about the tsunami because I felt I was intruding on some horrific memories for her and the fact that she came very close to dying and could easily have lost her entire family. It’s not the usual kind of research you do for a part. But she’s a very strong woman and she was very generous when it came to talking about her experience.

What was it like shooting the scenes in the water tank?

Those were the toughest, at least physically. You’re getting pulled and sloshed around in the tank and I had to struggle to keep my head above water most of the time. But we needed to go through that because the director Juan Antonio wanted to create that terrifying feeling of being carried by the water and having all the debris bang up against you. Everything that was shot in the water was done in the world’s second largest water tank and there were wave machines and pumps pushing the water against us while we were anchored in the tank and debris was being thrown in. We had dialogue written into the script but it was almost impossible to do because you would open your mouth and the water would choke you while you were trying to speak.

How taxing was this film compared to some of your other roles?

It was a very long shoot that grew even longer because the weather was so bad in Thailand. We had the worst weather in 50 years while we were shooting over there. It rained so much that many days we couldn’t work more than two hours at a time. But beyond that this was a film that was both physically and emotionally exhausting. Not only are you spending a lot of time thrashing about in the tank but our characters are constantly dealing with the fact that they get separated and they don’t know whether the other family members have survived or not. So there’s this horrible sense of loss and dread and the incredible anxiety and fear that you need to project that comes with wondering if you will ever see your loved ones again.

How did you get along with your co-star Ewan McGregor?

I had worked with him before (on the 2005 film, Stay) and we get along very well. He’s a brilliant actor whose face is so expressive and he’s able to bring out the best in you. Working with him was very inspiring. I also loved working with Tom Holland, who plays Maria’s eldest son, Lucas. Tom is a revelation in this film. He’s an outstanding actor and we had some beautiful scenes together that really speak to the friendship between Maria and Lucas. Those moments as mother and daughter are my favourite moments in the film and it was also good to get to know him away from the set.

Did you and Liev Schreiber and your two children join you while you were shooting in Thailand?

Yes. It was a fantastic experience for all of us and the kids got to see all these wild creatures and do things like ride elephants and chase frogs around and collect hermit crabs. We try to turn our trips into a big adventure and not just hang around our hotel. I think children can have a more valuable education at their age by seeing the world as opposed to sitting in a room playing with blocks and finger-painting.

Do you ever get to visit Australia again with your kids?

Earlier this year I shot a movie (Two Mothers) in Seal Rocks (New South Wales) and the children were with me. I want them to know that side of their mother’s cultural upbringing (Watts was raised in the UK before moving to Australia at age 14 with her mother and brother Ben). I would also like to be able to spend the Christmas holidays in Australia. We’ll see.

Do you expect to travel less in the future once the children are installed in regular school?

I probably will work less during the school year. Our eldest son Sasha started kindergarten in September and that’s a big thing. But Liev and I both want to keep travelling with them from time to time especially when it’s an interesting location and while the kids are still fairly young. At some point we’ll need to stay in one place for longer stretches, but for the time being we can be more mobile.

Do you feel comfortable living in New York?

I enjoy the energy and the atmosphere but it’s very different from London or the kind of life I had in Australia (where she moved as a teenager). Liev feels more at home in New York perhaps than I do, but we also have a house on the beach (in the fashionable Hamptons region in upstate New York where her brother Ben also has a house). I love the sand and the sound of the waves. I wish we could spend more time there, it reminds me of Australia and I feel very close to that time in my life.

Do you still have many friends Down Under?

Most of my closest friends, especially girlfriends, are Australian and we’ve made an effort to keep in touch by email or whenever I’m back there to shoot a movie like I did this year. Since I’ve been living in New York and now that I’m a mum, I have a lot of friends amongst mums whose kids go to school with mine. I like to hang around with them because you pick up a lot of tips about dealing with children as they grow up. Most of my friends who are my age have children who are much older and don’t even remember or want to talk about raising young kids like mine! (Laughs)

You and Liev have been together for seven years now. Do your friends ever drop hints about getting married?

(Laughs). Marriage…..well, I don’t know. It feels like, why fix it if it ain’t broke? Things are going fine the way they are. I grew up with very complicated feelings about marriage since my own mother was divorced twice and Liev has also been through that. We feel married in every way. It’s a proper relationship, the only thing that’s missing is that certificate and maybe one day it’ll be something we want to do but we’re not in a desperate hurry. I even have a ring he gave me although I usually don’t wear it. Maybe I’m superstitious or something…

What about having more kids?

Liev might be for that but I think two is plenty. My life is very full as it is with the two boys who love to rampage around at home with their dad. We have a great nanny who helps out a lot, so that takes some of the pressure off but it’s still a full day’s schedule. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like as a mum playing for hours over tea sets or dollies with a daughter, but I usually don’t think much beyond that. (Laughs) I always had a premonition that I would be the mother of boys, and that’s how it’s worked out. I think it’s going to be easier once they become teenagers and I won’t have to deal with two complex teenage daughters who would probably drive their mother crazy! (Laughs)

Do you ever find yourself a bit torn when you’re working on all these big film projects while looking after your children?

No. It’s worked out well. Liev and I have managed to alternate our work schedules with hardly any overlap except a few weeks here and there. And I honestly spend more time with my kids than most working mums who often only see their children when they get home from work in the evening. I’ve managed to bring the boys along while I’ve been filming and so there’s never been a sense of having to prioritise work versus family. Liev is also such an amazing father and I love watching him play with the kids and doing all the rough stuff. (Laughs) We have a really close-knit family and I hope our chidren will grow up feeling happy and self-confident and knowing that they can always rely on their mum and dad to be there for them.

Lastly, when it comes to playing Princess Diana, has it been one of the great challenges of your career?

There’s a side of you that’s terrified that your portrayal might not please the public which still has such vivid memories of her. But it’s the kind of challenge I felt I couldn’t refuse. You know that people will complain that you don’t look enough like her, that you’re not tall enough, all those things. It’s very difficult to play someone who had such a deep impact and left such a lasting memory on the public. Our memory of her is still very fresh and you have to be respectful of that. It’s also more complicated and sensitive when you take into account her two boys. But I want to do her justice and help her story truthfully.