Watts unlikely to feature in traditional romantic fluff comedy

Abu Dhabi: British actress Naomi Watts, who is known to gravitate towards dark roles, may never act in a light romantic comedy.

The self-confessed ‘nervous-breakdown girl' says she will make an exception only if it's a quirky one and a departure from the traditional romantic fluff. She was in the capital as part of the 3rd Middle East International Film Festival events.

Candid responses from the actress made every minute of the 45-minute discourse as powerful as her films.

"It's fun to play dark roles. I am not a fan of romantic comedies — except while on an airplane. They are all just so formulaic and it is hard to get them right," says Watts.

But motherhood has made her go easy on the hardliner stand.

"Since I am a mother now, I am now looking at doing films that my kids can maybe watch at some point in their lives when they are grown-ups.

"But like I said, it is harder to come by since I am the girl who plays the nervous breakdown well. I am not the comedy go-to girl. I will be looking at quirkier stuff rather than traditional comedies though," Watts said.

The 41-year-old actress is best known for her intense roles in films including the critically-acclaimed 21 Grams, the eerie thriller The Ring and David Lynch's Mulholland Drive.

Often labelled ‘The Queen of the Remake', Watts, who has featured in the modern version of Peter Jackson's King Kong and Michael Haneke's scene-by-scene retelling of Funny Games, admits it's not been an easy ride.

Difficult

"It is difficult because I have done four or five remakes now. There is a huge amount of pressure. For instance, for my role in King Kong — Fay Wray had made it iconic. I watched the movie once and let go of it. Now, with directors like Michael, he wanted to recreate every single shot. I felt quite trapped. In the end, it requires great discipline."

The poised actress is equally well-rounded in her personal life. If the discussion with Watts is anything to go by, she believes in being in command and is as family-oriented as they come.

She currently lives in New York City and is far from Los Angeles — the epicentre of the movie business.

"I think LA is devoid of culture. When you are in New York you feel instantly connected with the rest of the world. And my husband is a New Yorker, so the move felt like a natural thing to do," says Watts.

Her strong geographical leaning came to the fore when the question about joining drama school as a teenager was raised. The British-born, Australia-bred actress raised a few eyebrows with her quirky ambivalent response.

"It was payback for [my mother] moving me from England to Australia. I bribed her. Actually, I was very unhappy about being moved. You know, I had just settling into my peer groups and Australia felt like the end of the earth. But in retrospect, it is one of the best things she did for us…It was a land of opportunities."