Naomi Watts is back to
making her indie movies after the monster of King
Kong. In The
Painted Veil, she plays a woman who marries under social pressure,
but soon finds herself in an affair. As a sort of revenge, her husband takes
he on a cholera-aid mission in China. Watts herself doesn't judge her character.
Interview: Naomi Watts on The Painted Veil
"I liked Kitty from the first moment I read
the script," she said. "She sort of leapt off the page. She was
ahead of her time or at least she thought she was in refusing to conform
to conventions and she just got swept up in this frivolous world in who’s
who and how one should look and she can’t stand her family breathing
down her neck constantly saying, ‘You’ve got to do something.
You’ve got to married.’ She’s sort of enjoying this floating
and the attention of many rather than just focusing on one person. So, when
she gets this proposal it’s a form of escape. Just, please let me
get out of here and the face that he is going to an exotic place sounds
even more exciting. And then when she has the affair, she’s just continuing
to be a self-destructive person. And when he stops punishing her and she
gets to this new place, I just loved her transformation. I felt that it
was important to commit to the flaws in her so that the transformation is
that much greater and her journey is more powerful."
So attached was she to Kitty that Watts helped produce the film to ensure
it got made. "This was a long journey and it took us a long time to
find its feet and there were many obstacles along the way. And getting on
board as a producer really just shows my passion for it. Quite often, you’re
attached to something and if it doesn’t get up and go, it can loose
its shine if you will and becomes a little bit lackluster if nobody else
is jumping on board. But this never lost its shine and Edward [Norton] and
I championed it and we found [director] John [Curran] and I’d worked
with John before I knew he could handle this material brilliantly because
of his ability to understand the relationship and the conflict within that
without judgment and even putting humor in the most awkward of places. And
really again, creating that collaborative workspace."
The Painted Veil
The Painted Veil
The Painted Veil
The Painted Veil
Working behind the scenes, Watts had to be careful
to separate the actress from the filmmaker. "Sometimes when you fight
for what you believe is right for your character, you don’t want to
come across as just seemingly coming across as an actor trying to buy more
screen time or something. You want to have the voice from a point of view
that is thinking of the whole film. And I think for me, it was important
that the back story was there. That she was running away from something.
That we didn’t just get straight into the love story and there were
temptations to get the story moving at times and really slim down that beginning
part of the story."
Though her character gets emotionally battered in the film, coming off of
King Kong, The Painted Veil was a delight
to Watts. "I mean, eight months of 14-hours a day jumping, running,
being punched, pushed and pulled. It really did take its toll and I’m
not a big person. So, this was a luxury. I mean, the emotional aspect of
it is exhausting, but we had time. We actually had quite a luxury of time
as we moved from place to place."
The Painted Veil has a wider release this December 29th.
For the trailer, stills, poster, more interviews and more movie info, go
to The Painted
Veil Movie Page.
Stay tuned for updates.
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