Naomi Watts: Tough time with '21 Grams'
'I walked out at quite a speed'
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Naomi Watts in "21 Grams."
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LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Academy Awards voters aren't the only ones happy the ban on "screener" videos got lifted. "21 Grams" star Naomi Watts is a bit pleased herself.
"I've only seen ('21 Grams') once in its final version as it's up on the screen now, in Venice. And while I would like to, the pressure of seeing it with an audience that is there to judge is quite difficult, so I'm looking forward to getting my screener," Watts said in a recent interview.
This was 20 minutes before facing American Cinematheque members in a post-screening Q&A at the Egyptian Theatre Wednesday night.
"Or I might go out to the cinema somehow and sneak in and watch it with a real audience, which I've never done. That would be interesting."
Probably interesting, but definitely difficult.
"The first time I saw it, I ran out, well, I didn't run but I walked out at quite a speed and went to the bathroom and had a private moment," admits the actress, who plays Cristina Peck, a woman reeling after the tragic death of her husband and two young daughters.
To prepare for the role -- which Watts famously accepted before seeing a script -- she attended grief and substance-abuse support groups.
"I lost my father when I was 7 years old, and even though I wasn't in touch with those feelings at that time, it helped me relate to the people in the groups and helped me answer my own questions [about losing him]."
The research paid off. Watts' dramatic turn has brought her several critics' prizes, including best actress from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., an honor she found out she won following Wednesday's Q&A.
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