Naomi Watts revealed on “Live With Kelly and Mark” (via Entertainment Weekly) that she almost quit acting before meeting the late David Lynch, who cast her in the lead role in 2001’s “Mulholland Drive.” The film’s critical and worldwide reputation made Watts a star after “10 years” of “failed auditions.” Lynch died on January 15 at age 78.
“I wouldn’t have stayed (in Hollywood) if I hadn’t met David Lynch,” Watts said. “Things were bad, it was 10 years after failed auditions (and) nothing was happening…I was literally alienating people. I made them uncomfortable because I said, “I need a job!” I need a job! »
Things got so bad for Watts “that my agent at the time said to me, ‘You’re too intense.’ You’re making people uncomfortable,” the Oscar nominee recalled. “Yeah, I need a job. I’m desperate, I have to work. I was planning on going home a few times .
“Long story short, David Lynch called me and he has a very different way of casting,” she continued. “He sat me down and just looked me in the eyes and asked me questions, and most of the time I was like, ‘How can I get out of your way?’ How can I speed this up? (Because) I’m sure I’m not right, because I just have this programming: I’m not funny, I’m not sexy, I’m too old, I am too this, also that And he just saw me and was able to sort of raise these facets.
Watts and Lynch would later reunite on projects such as “Rabbits” and “Twin Peaks: The Return,” which featured the director’s other muses like Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern. After news of Lynch’s death broke online, Watts took to Instagram to share a moving tribute and to tell her fans that “the world won’t be the same without him.”
“His creative mentorship was truly powerful,” Watts wrote. “The world I had been trying to break into for over ten years, failing auditions left and right. Finally, I sat down in front of a curious man, radiating light, speaking to me words from another era, making me laugh and putting me at ease. How could he “see” me when I was so well hidden and even lost sight of me?!”
“Every moment together was charged with a presence I have rarely seen or known,” Watts continued of their time together. “Probably because, yes, he seemed to live in an altered world, one that I feel more than lucky to have been a part of. And David invited everyone to get a glimpse of this world through his exquisite storytelling, which has elevated cinema and inspired generations of filmmakers around the world.
Watts concluded: “I just can’t believe he’s gone. I’m in pieces but I’m forever grateful for our friendship.
The actor is currently making the press rounds in support of his new book, “Dare I Say It.” After Lynch cast Watts in “Mulholland Drive,” Hollywood finally came calling on him with major roles in projects such as “The Ring” and “21 Grams.”
