Naomi Watts has been gracing our movie screens for over 25 years, earning the respect of her peers as well as multiple industry accolades, including two Oscar nominations for best actress.
To celebrate Watts’ birthday, Variety is ranking her 15 best film performances so far.
Born in England and raised in Australia, Watts was sprinkled in smaller roles throughout the ‘90s before being cast in David Lynch’s thriller “Mulholland Drive” (2001), which earned critical acclaim. Despite Lynch landing a surprise Oscar nom for directing, Watts failed to nab attention for her breakthrough role.
The industry made it up to her the following year when she starred opposite Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro in Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s “21 Grams” (2002), playing a grief-stricken wife and mother. For her efforts, she picked up her first Oscar nom for best actress, ultimately losing to Charlize Theron’s work in “Monster.”
The blonde bombshell effortlessly bounced back and forth between quirky comedies like “I Heart Huckabees” (2004), independent dramas like “We Don’t Live Here Anymore” (2004), and even big budget blockbusters like “King Kong” (2005).
Her return to the Oscar ceremony would come with her physically demanding turn as a mother fighting for survival during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in J.A. Bayona’s “The Impossible” (2012), starring opposite Ewan McGregor and a young Tom Holland. She comfortably garnered a nom for best actress.
Since then, she’s found herself to be a close dark horse on multiple occasions, nabbing SAG nominations for “St. Vincent” as a hilarious pregnant Russian prostitute and as a struggling stage performer in the best picture winner “Birdman” (2014).
Nowadays, she’s been consistently shepherding dynamic roles in films such as “Luce” and “Penguin Bloom.”
Aside from two smaller features earlier this year – “Infinite Storm” and “Goodnight Mommy” — Watts will next be seen in Ryan Murphy’s new true crime series “The Watcher,” which drops on Netflix in October. In addition, she’s set to play Babe Paley in the next iteration of FX’s “Feud” in 2023.
Read Variety’s list of Naomi Watts’ 15 best performances so far below. Make sure to watch the best clip from each of the films selected.
Honorable mentions: “Mother and Child” (2010); “Fair Game” (2010); “The Glass Castle” (2017)