The scene that “traumatised” Naomi Watts: “I can’t do this, I can’t do it”
Actors have to be pretty down for anything if they want to become the best of the best, but sometimes that can mean putting themselves in incredibly vulnerable situations.
Sure, they might be pretending to be someone else, but when a role requires something incredibly intimate, the line between an actor and their character inevitably blurs, which was the case for Naomi Watts, who found herself pushed to her limit filming an intense scene in Mulholland Drive.
David Lynch’s shimmeringly dark descent into the depths of Hollywood, where betrayal and obsession intertwine, was a breakthrough for the actor, which saw her playing a dual role: arriving to Hollywood as the naive Betty, a hopeful wannabe star, before ending up as Diane, the real version of Betty, depressive and guilt-ridden. It’s an incredible performance which sees Watts go from innocence and excitement to utter despair, with the images of Watts holding back tears with a wine glass in hand at the dinner table, or her dishevelled appearance as she reaches her tragic end, are a far cry from her beaming smile at the start of the film, when she almost cartoonishly steps out of the airport with her bags in hand.
The contrast between these two characters, which reflects the dream world and reality, proved Watts’ genius, although she was cruelly snubbed by the Academy. Still, it doesn’t take an Oscar to highlight the brave and ambitious nature of her performance, which even required her to act out a masturbation scene.
It’s never going to be easy filming something as private as that in front of people, especially since you know that the whole world is now going to be able to access such footage, and Watts admittedly found the whole ordeal a little traumatising. While Lynch tried to make the shoot as accommodating as possible, when it came down to it, she still had to simulate touching herself on camera.
In a conversation with Jonathan Bailey for an interview with Variety, the actor recalled, “Mulholland Drive, yes. I was traumatised. I remember having to go to the bathroom multiple times because I think I might have been having explosive something or other,” to which Bailey quickly quipped, “Euphoria”.
Watts continued, “Literally. I was so in butterflies. I was freaked out, and David knew that, but he didn’t want to not get the scene. I kept sort of attempting it and going, ‘I can’t do this, David. I can’t do it’. He was always off at the other side of the room in a black tent or something, and actually, he made it very private for me.”
It seems as though it was a difficult situation for the pair to be in, but they eventually figured out a way to make it work, wherein she “managed to feel a little bit safer because of that, but I just kept crying. And he didn’t want an emotive scene; he wanted someone who was angry and trying to reconnect with an erotic moment.”
Such scenes are always going to be tricky to navigate, and this one features Watts in tears as the camera pans over her, and while she seems more upset than angry, it helps realise Lynch’s vision and conveys the emotion that her character feels as she is driven to a complete loss of hope.
Luckily, there has been a dramatic increase in intimacy coordinators on sets since then, and while some people are proud of not needing them, these essential buffers can help actors and filmmakers execute such demanding shoots without the potential trauma arresting them.
