december-2010

30 DECEMBER 2010
Even
Talent
the
SHE’S ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S FAVOURITE DAUGHTERS WHO HAS
become Hollywood’s darling complete with an
OSCAR NOMINATION, BUT BEHIND THE CAMERA, NAOMI WATTS IS
a down-to-earth, doting mother of two
though she has left the men in
her life behind — partner and
actor Liev Schreiber, and their two children
Alexander, three, and 21-month-old Samuel
Kai — to meet with Jetstar Magazine at the
Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, Naomi
Watts appears every bit the devoted mother.
After breezing into the room for our
appointment to talk about her new movie
Fair Game, the conversation soon drifts to
her off-screen joy. “Things have changed now
that I have children,” shares the 42-year-old
Australian, English-born actress. “I don’t put in
the same blood, sweat and tears anymore.
“I’ve always thought of myself as someone
with a great work ethic, and that I’m very
committed to what I do. But I don’t work as
often as I used to now. I used to take my work
home and stay up all night deliberating on it.
“Now the minute I walk in the door it’s done,
it’s fi nished — it’s all about the kids. Children
really pull you into the moment.”
Her latest fi lm Fair Game — co-starring
Sean Penn — is a true story of espionage
and betrayal. Watts plays former undercover
CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose life was torn
apart when her cover was blown by the US
government after her husband — former
ambassador Joe Wilson — criticised the Bush
administration for the Iraq War.
The project came to Watts not long after
she had given birth to her second child.
“It could not have been worse timing,” she
explains. “Basically I gave birth on 13th
December, and the email came on the 26th. I
said, ‘I’m not reading anything right now — I’m
on the two-hour feeding schedule.’ But I knew
the story — I’d followed it in the news at the
time. So I was instantly intrigued, and director
Doug Liman said ‘Just read 10 pages’.”
The rest is history. Watts signed on and
was soon immersed in Plame’s story, whose