About
Naomi Watts is a British-born, Australian-raised actor whose résumé runs from cult art-house mysteries to record-breaking blockbusters and trending prestige TV. She broke through with David Lynch’s mind-bending Mulholland Drive (2001). Audiences then saw her fearless range in the horror hit The Ring, the Oscar-nominated drama 21 Grams, Peter Jackson’s King Kong, the tsunami survival tale The Impossible, and most recently Ryan Murphy’s The Watcher and Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, which earned her an Emmy nomination in 2024. Beyond acting, Watts founded Stripes Beauty—one of the first wellness brands devoted to menopause—and remains an international goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS. At 56, she has turned lived experience into advocacy, proving that reinvention, not retreat, can define midlife.
Before Fame
Born on 28 September 1968 in Shoreham, Kent, Naomi Ellen Watts grew up in a creative but unsettled household. Her father, Peter Watts, was a sound engineer for Pink Floyd; her mother, Myfanwy “Miv” Edwards, designed costumes. After her parents separated and her father died when she was eight, the family hopscotched across England and Wales before resettling in Sydney when she was fourteen. The constant relocations sharpened her ear for accents and gave her a knack for slipping into new identities—useful tools for a future actor.
In Australia she balanced school, a magazine day job, and a brief, ill-fated modeling stint in Japan while studying acting by night. During a swimsuit-commercial audition she crossed paths with another aspiring performer, Nicole Kidman, sparking a friendship that would sustain them through countless auditions. By the mid-1990s Watts made the leap to Los Angeles, endured several lean years, and was on the verge of giving up when Lynch cast her in Mulholland Drive, a twist of fate she still describes as career-saving.
Trivia
- Double Oscar contender. Watts scored Best Actress nominations for 21 Grams (2003) and The Impossible (2012).
- Early-start menopause advocate. Symptoms began at 36, driving her to launch Stripes Beauty and to write Dare I Say It (out January 2025), a candid guide to the topic.
- Humanitarian streak. Since 2006 she has traveled and campaigned as a UNAIDS goodwill ambassador, amplifying stories of people living with HIV.
- Two ceremonies, same groom. After a quiet courthouse wedding to actor Billy Crudup in June 2023, the pair threw a celebration for family and friends in Mexico City in June 2024.
- Workhorse producer. While starring in Feud, she was also producing the upcoming literary drama The Friend, showing no signs of slowing down.
Family Life
Watts has long woven family into her professional whirlwind. From 2005 to 2016 she shared her life with actor Liev Schreiber; together they welcomed two children—Alexander “Sasha” Pete (born 2007) and Kai (born 2008). Even after separating, the ex-partners settled just blocks apart in New York City and frequently turn up together at school events, proving that amicable co-parenting is possible in the spotlight. Love re-entered when Watts and Billy Crudup played a married couple in Netflix’s Gypsy in 2017; friendship blossomed into romance, and on 9 June 2023 they officially wed at a Manhattan courthouse. One year later they renewed vows Mexican-style, surrounded by relatives, including Naomi’s photographer brother Ben Watts. The blended clan now splits time between Manhattan and a quieter upstate retreat, prioritizing Sunday dinners, soccer games, and as-unplugged-as-possible holidays.
Associated With
- David Lynch – the visionary director who cast her in Mulholland Drive and, in her words, “changed everything.”
- Nicole Kidman – teenage acting-class pal and lifelong confidante; Kidman cheered her friend from the front row at the Mexico City wedding celebration.
- Ryan Murphy – TV powerhouse behind The Watcher and Feud, who keeps creating juicy roles for Watts in her fifties.
- Sean Penn – intensity-driven co-star in 21 Grams, whose on-screen partnership helped land her first Oscar nomination.
- Ewan McGregor & Tom Holland – castmates in The Impossible, bonding with Watts during physically grueling flood-tank shoots.
- Billy Crudup – husband, red-carpet companion, and occasional scene partner—their real-life chemistry easily translates on screen.
