Naomi Watts reveals why she initially wanted to reject ‘The Ring’

Naomi Watts, though, debuted in 1986 with a small role in For Love Alone. However, she found success when she starred in Mulholland Drive.

However, right after the 2001 movie, she was offered The Ring. 

But at first, she didn't want to do it.

“I tried to say ‘no.’ There’s no certainty to anything you do, ever,” she shared while appearing at the Zurich Film Festival.

Her reasoning is simple: her critical acclaim might be undermined if she stars in a mainstream Hollywood movie.

“My agents were excited about this. I said, 'Wait. I just got this critical acclaim, so I want to instantly go into a Hollywood blockbuster-y movie?!’

With her agent's persistence, Watts recalls she dug in her heels. "I fought with my agent at the time."

However, she relented, only to be found out. The Ring became a blockbuster.

"I didn’t know it was going to be a massive hit! I woke up to the horror genre, in a way. It was a lucky, lucky break.”

On the other hand, Watts, whose career spanned four decades, also shed light on how emotionally demanding scenes can draw a raw performance from an actor.

"Extraordinary things can happen when you get tired and irritable from doing things too much,” she shared.

Then, she pointed to a recurring theme found in her characters: grief.

“If there’s any theme in my work, it’s grief. It’s why I do what I do: I’m trying to figure out the meaning of my life," she said.

Watts, meanwhile, the latest project is The Housewife.