MovieChat Forums > Eastern Promises (2007) Discussion > Naomi Watts is British!?!?

Naomi Watts is British!?!?


lol, I had no idea. She played an American in everything I'd seen her in previously, and that's going back 8 or 9 years spanning several movies. Then I see this film and think she's an American doing an British accent, and wonder if Brits will find it to be phony....only to watch her do a behind-the-scenes interview about the making of the film where my first thought was "Why is she still talking with the British accent?" Wow, she had me fooled.

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[deleted]

Yep, that was my belief too, samantha. She was either UK-born and Ozzie-bred, or Ozzie-born and UK-bred, but she has dual-citizenship, though I don't think that is really necessary if you are a commonwealth citizen.

She's also Nicole Kidman's best friend in real life which may make the UK-born and Ozzie-bred scenario more likely.



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[deleted]

Cheers shent, all I knew was that Naomi is older than she looks (she's gorgeous regardless) and her breakthrough is still regarded as King Kong. The last thing I saw her in was a remake of a German movie about sadism called something obviously sadistic like "Dirty pretty things"(?)

I've no idea what it was called and I'm not the type of person to click one of the icons above and find out (I really am lazy and partially drunk) but it was Naomi, husband and child in remote hovel, visitted by two twenty-something guys who torture them.

Good movie, the deutsche-original is better. The name escapes me. Perhaps after another sherry.



With your feet in the air and your head on the ground, try this sig with spinach!

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Funny Games U.S.

I checked, I'm disgusted with my self.



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***

"raf-33" Good memory

Funny Games is actually a re-make from around 70-80 that was made I think in Germany or nearby - most else is the same.

Original was much creepier with those preppy boys about as scary as you could imagine - once they had the power to kill (and the way they kill the young child and especially how they treat it all is as creepy a movie scene ever - they got alway with a LOT more in other Nations AND there is no such Rating to limit them

So their "NR" can be equivalent to an NC-17, but with no one knowing a thing so they watch it, rent it and play it on Cable, etc.

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Actually, the 2007 Funny Games is almost a shot-for-shot remake of the 1997 original, so there isn't much difference between the two versions in any way.



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

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And yet the original is a touch creepier.

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The first thing I remember seeing her in was David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. Great film and an outstanding performance, most notably the audition scene.

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I personally think her breakthrough was The Ring. At least here in Britain... that film was massive.

"The best way to keep a guy at least ten feet away? Dry heave. Vomit is the new mace." Veronica

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Are kidding me??? The ring her breakthrough????? Watch Mulholland Drive!!!! That movie changed her careeerr!!!!!!!!! But if you are teh kind of person that w atches commercial movies, then it is logical that you have no a *beep* idea... IGNORANT

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Mulholland Drive was more of an artsy film though, it wasn't a mainstream success like The Ring.

+++by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5+++


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STFU, ya elitist douche! I watch and LOVE commercial movies, just as I watch and LOVE independent/arthouse (or whatever snobby term you use) movies. What is wrong with that? Let me ask that again: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT? Really. Can you even give a reasonable answer? You're the ignorant one.

I don't love her.. She kicked me in the face!!

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actually, her best was 21 Grams. One of the best performances ever.

"The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters." (A.H)

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Yeah Mulholland Drive was her breakthorugh

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That movie is called FunnY Games and sorry but her breakthrough came with MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001). And she was nominated for the first time at the acdemy awards for 21 grams(2003). You have no IDEA.

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You're right,shenton. I should have checked, since we're already on IMDb.

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Yeah UK-born but grew up after a while in Australia. Dual citizenship is necessary, there's no free travel or residency between Commonwealth countries. More generous than with other countries, but Aussies still need visas to stay in the UK and vice-versa, you can't be there very long and migration isn't necessarily easy.

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Her accent has been described as a cross between Australian and English. I first saw her in Persons Unknown, a low budget but interesting crime movie from 1996.

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She's spent most of her younger years in Australia. I'd be guessing 10 years or more. She has an Aussie accent by the way. You can hear it in interviews and public appearances.

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Regarding her nationality, Watts has stated: "I consider myself British and have very happy memories of the UK. I spent the first 14 years of my life in England and Wales and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia I went back to England a lot."
She also has expressed her nationalism for Australia, declaring: "I consider myself very connected to Australia, in fact when people say where is home, I say Australia, because those are my most powerful memories."

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Sounds like she's having 2 bob each way there.

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I thought her breakthrough was Mulholland Drive?

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

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YEs, it was mulholland Drive!!!!!!! Don't get confused by these IGNORANT people!!

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PISS OFF!!! it was tank girl :p

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I've never understood the love for Ms. Watts. She seems rather low affect in general to me, hardly expressive. I suppose you could say she underplays her roles, but that's not the way she comes across to me. As for her appearance she is nice enough looking as long as she has makeup on, but overall it's a rather generic look. Oh well...

I mention this because I remember being all set to love EP, and I felt she dragged it down to a mediocre level. Perhaps I should revisit after ten years.

Probably won't.

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One can of course have whatever opinion of Watts's talents in general, but "low affect" and "underplaying" simply do not fit the bill, considering how many emotionally supercharged roles she's played over the years, as well as ones that require playing two or more very different registers. Mulholland Dr was a revelation and she also had to deal with a mountain of devastation and emotional turmoil in 21 Grams, Funny Games, The Impossible... All of which contain instances of, well, extreme "non-underplaying". I think she's pretty good at it, too.



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

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