“The first moment I think they make their connection is when instead of making the decision to pull her to pieces, he thinks she’s kind of amusing. He pushes her around a bit and then her days of Vaudeville, she kind of comes on to what he’s amused by and this is going to buy her more time, basically. All the time she’s thinking, ‘Okay, I’ll just do a couple of pratfalls and think of a way out of this.’ But then she kind of sees what it is that’s amusing him and finds that kind of fascinating. He becomes upset wanting more and more and more and she’s beyond exhaustion and can’t give anymore. And then he gets frustrated and starts smashing things, and then becomes completely embarrassed by his behavior and then has to run away and hide. She finds that odd but kind of understands it as well. That’s the beginning of their connection.”
Naomi Watts on Working with Director Peter Jackson: “I don't think I could have just signed on to this project had it not have been [for] someone like Peter. I would have been concerned that it would have just been too much of an action movie and a damsel in distress. But when I first heard about it, and I heard that Peter was doing it, I thought, ‘Wow, that’s interesting. The guy who is pretty much the front runner in terms of the effects world as well as the man who made "Heavenly Creatures," which is a beautifully complicated movie about very emotional stuff.’ So it seemed like a great idea. Then I went and met with him and his partner Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, their writing partner. I heard them speak about it, that it was the legendary King Kong but with a number of great new ideas. And how they definitely wanted to change the female role into something much more than just a screaming beauty.”
Naomi Watts on Fay Wray’s Iconic Performance in the 1933 Version of “King Kong:” “It was on my mind, definitely, before I started filming. It did concern me, and I really played that out. It's such an iconic part and it's such a lot to live up to. You know, what if I'm gonna be remembered for this? But I felt, with any role that you take on, you oscillate between the pros and cons. It's healthy to think all of those through. At the end of the day, after meeting with Peter and Fran and Philippa, and hearing them talk about the script and how they were going to do it, and what new ideas they were going to introduce. I thought, ‘Well, I want to do this,’ and all that stuff kind of paled.
It's so different than anything I've ever done before and that became the biggest reason to do it, amongst many other elements, too. But once I was on the set, I wasn't thinking about that at all. It was now my role, except there were a couple of homages straight to Fay [Wray]. That's the one on the ship, and there's another one actually that didn't make it into the movie.”
Naomi Watts Talks About Meeting Fay Wray: “Meeting Fay was wonderful. We had a fantastic night in New York. A gentleman by the name of Rick McKay hosted a small dinner and Peter clearly had been in love with this woman since he was about nine years old, that was his first crush. He talked with her and told her that he was doing this film and how much it meant to him, and how it drove him to being a filmmaker. She was very attentive.
I think he was very moved by the experience of actually being in the same room as her. In fact, I think I saw a tear well up. It was a lovely moment. And then he introduced me as being the new Ann Darrow and she looked up at me and went, ‘You're not Ann Darrow, I am! [laughs] I'm Ann Darrow!’ And I thought, ‘Oh great! She's 96, and her humor is still right there.’ And then I had a moment of like, ‘Oh God, what if she doesn't like me? What if she thinks I'm not good enough?’ And all that typical stuff.”
Naomi Watts on Getting Fay Wray’s Blessing: “We had a nice dinner and chit-chatted. At the end of the night, we dropped her home to her house and she got out of the car. We all kissed and hugged, and she whispered in my ear, ‘Ann Darrow's in good hands.’ And that was a special [connection.] That was some great passing words because it felt like she was giving me permission, and I was given the baton, you know? I was hoping that that night was going to be the first of more, which it was for Peter and Fran. But sadly she passed away a few months later and I wasn't in the country to meet her again, in between that time and her death. But, you know, you didn't want to overwhelm her with too many questions.”
Page 2: Naomi Watts on Injuries on the Set, Working with Andy Serkis, and Breaking a Window with Her Scream
