Naomi Watts: Caught in 'The Ring'

Aussie beauty Naomi Watts is riding high lately. Since her breakthrough role in David Lynch's controversial drama Mullholland Drive, she has won a slew of Best Actress awards from film critics. The pretty blonde has lots of films coming out, among them, The Kelly Gang with boyfriend Heath Ledger. We've spoken to both Heath and Naomi recently but neither star would talk about the other—although when we interviewed Naomi for her new thriller The Ring, she was wearing a huge, gorgeous jade necklace..."a gift," she says and blushes. It's not an engagement ring but you never know. We did learn about the rigors and challenges of making the psychological thriller and Naomi's take on what it's like to stand on the threshold of fame.

Q: The Ring is based on the "Ringu" series of films that are so very popular in Japan. Were you influenced by this?

Naomi: I read the script and I got excited about it, and then I managed to get ahold of a copy of the Japanese version, which was particularly difficult to find, as I was shooting a film in the South of Wales and the video store people looked at me blankly. When I got ahold of it, I was in my hotel room, alone, watching it on a very small TV monitor, and I remember being pretty freaked out. I just saw it the once, and that was enough to get me excited about doing it. After that, I didn't want to look at it too much because, when you're doing a remake, I think it can be dangerous because seeing how the other actor has played the role could corrupt your own ideas or take you in a direction that's not exactly where you had planned to go.

Q: Were you worried that you might have to "outdo" the original?

Naomi: It's a very bold move to do a remake of a movie, but even though it was such a huge phenomena in Japan, it was still fairly obscure to the rest of the world. I know that in certain demographics or cult worlds, it was huge too but not too many people knew about it, so it wasn't like we were doing a classic that was internationally phenomenal, that everybody would be seeing again. I tried not to pay too much attention to that and just take it for what it was and enjoy it.

Q: What drew you to do this film?

Naomi: It was the character [Rachel]. It's a genre film, and you get all those moments that you get in a genre film, but you get a little bit more. I think it's more psychological and the character has her own personal journey to go through, and I particularly liked it for that reason. Rachel starts out as a flawed person who's not the greatest mother. She's a little bit driven and focused on what she thinks is the right thing to do, which is work, work, work, survive, survive, and provide for her child. It's only after all the drama and the chaos happens that she realizes that it's not just about that, it's about spending time and asking the questions and recognizing what your child needs before he states it.

Q: At the center of The Ring is this urban legend about a "death tape". When you were young, did you share any urban legends with your friends?

Naomi: No, but I do remember that ritual when you were a kid of sitting around in a circle and each telling a scary story. If the person on your right told a scary one, you'd up the stakes a bit and make it a little scarier if it was your turn. I remember doing things like that.

Q: Speaking of scary, are you terrified of becoming more famous?

Naomi: You don't spend time thinking about that and, if you do, you're in this for the wrong reason. I just want to work and be challenged by those experiences and learn from them. Thus far, I haven't been afraid of that because I haven't come into that situation. I never get recognized, I really don't. [Laughs]

Q: Do you have any real life fears or phobias?

Naomi: Oh, none at all. Nothing terrifies me. [she's kidding.] Of course. This [an interview] terrifies me. I'm particularly afraid of speaking in front of large crowds. That's the truth. It's not natural for me. And doing red carpet [premiere arrivals] is a phobia. Sometimes, I get quite afraid of flying.

Q: This is a creepy movie. Were you creeped out on set at all, while you were making this?

Naomi: Only about the hours. [Laughs] That was creepy. No. It's so disjointed [out of order] when you shoot and, the reason it works as a film, when you watch it as an audience member, is because of all the elements that support the story and the pacing and the music. I wish that I could tell you that we had visitations or omens but they didn't happen.

Q: Is it weird watching yourself in this film?

Naomi: It's pretty scary [laughs]. I saw it for the first time the other night with an audience. I was very nervous about seeing the film. All that attention that happened last year from Mulholland Drive was wonderful and I got lots of praise and awards and nice notices and stuff, but there's this enormous pressure for your second film. You sort of feel like you really have to deliver again. I did find myself leaping at the odd occasion and then getting the giggles, thinking, "I know the beats, I know this script back to front," and feeling a bit embarrassed for having such a reaction.

Q: How exhausting is it to do something like The Ring?

Naomi: It was very exhausting. We shot six days a week in Seattle and there were two weeks where we shot seven days in a row because we had a certain amount of time to do quite a lot of stuff. We all wanted to go home for Christmas, so we did it. Gore [Verbinski, the director] has more energy than anyone I've ever met in my entire life. I thought I had energy. He just kept going until he got what he wanted. But there were great moments of reprieve and, working with Martin [Henderson], for instance, you can tell he's a funny guy and we're both from similar parts of the world so there was a lot of teasing and ribbing. It just kept the morale up and that was good.

Q: What was the most challenging scene for you?

Naomi: I'd have to say when I found out that my son was watching the tape. And then, again, when I was totally exasperated at the end, when I'm smashing the tape to pieces. I really felt like I was touching on melodrama and just going for it and shrieking. You're always afraid that it's too much, but it really warrants that in the story. She's reached that point where she just can't take it anymore. Also, I'd have to say that the horses on the boat [were particularly difficult]. I felt terrible for the horses, but we had the animal people there, who were watching very closely and telling us what we could and couldn't do. Everyone on the set was incredibly quiet and respectful, in order not to spook them any more than they were already being spooked. I think the horse actually got off at one point and it was pretty scary. We thought it might bolt, but nothing happened like that. They were incredible. How do you teach a horse to jump through a window? I think it's a pretty powerful scene.

Q: What were your thoughts about doing something similarly creepy, after Mulholland Drive?

Naomi: I did have my concerns about doing another psychological thriller/horror film. I didn't want to be put in a box in any way, but [the women in "Mulholland"] were, obviously, two very extreme characters that didn't seem real, whereas Rachel is. She's a very ordinary woman in an extraordinary circumstance.

Q: Having done The Others, did your friend Nicole Kidman give you any professional notes about working on a horror film?

Naomi: No, no she didn't. Nicole's a really good friend and she is someone you learn a lot from just because you're in the same proximity, and she learns from me -- it's the exchange of a friendship, but no, she never sits me down and says, "You know, this is what you must do through this experience and that experience." She was wonderful in that film and I liked that it was sort of Hitchcockian, and I feel that this movie has a slightly Hitchcockian style to it as well.

Q: If they decide to do a sequel, would you want to revisit the character?

Naomi: Yes. Yeah, I would. I would always be nervous about doing a sequel, but I feel like I'm in safe hands. The Dreamworks people are really smart. We did a lot of script changes while we were shooting and we shot a few different endings. We didn't know what we were going to use, and the way they've played it out, I think is really smart. I love the way it ends. It's a little bit up in the air. I feel inspired and encouraged by that. I do like that character, so I'm happy to go to more dark and strange places.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.