[Article] Naomi Watts On Shielding Her Sons From The Celebrity World

By Rebecca Twomey, Marie Claire
4 May 2013


Naomi Watts does her utmost to prevent her private life playing out in front of the press, she may have a celebrity partner in the form of fellow actor Liev Schreiber but she does all she can to shield her children from the spotlight.

And that's something she's done to a definite degree of success but the actress reveals to Marie Claire that it’s not so easy to keep her grittier roles a secret from her two sons Alexander, 5, and Samuel, 4. As she reflects on her time playing Maria in The Impossible the Australian actress tells us:

‘My sons were there on the set all the time. I was very careful about what condition they saw me in first. Depending on what scenes we were shooting I was in a worse situation or in a slightly better one. So Liev and I spoke about it. I spoke about it with him and I said, “Just remind them of what they are going to see.”’

But despite some of the gore from the film’s scenes, Naomi shared her fun way of including her children in her work without upsetting them. ‘By the end of the movie they were there in the make-up truck painting me, with my genius make up artist by the side of me’ Naomi Watts tells us. ‘They thought that it was incredible fun so they understand that it is all make-believe.’

While Naomi may be part of the Hollywood A-list, she still shares the same concerns and worries as every other mother, ‘I do worry about my own children every single day, in the tiniest of ways,’ she reveals. ‘All the worst possible worries come into my head. I just worry, worry all the time about their safety.’

But she’s learning to let go, little by little, she adds: ‘I don’t think I am neurotically cautious. I am just quite cautious. I want them to feel brave and I want to trust them and I do find myself saying “Oh, do just let them explore it!” It’s trial and error.’

Well put Naomi!