Scene Stealer: Emily Watson
Watson, who costars alongside Reneé Zellweger and Ewan McGregor in 'Miss Potter,' opens up about her roles in 'Gosford Park,' 'The Corpse Bride,' and several other films.
By Jason Matloff
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Watson wasn't thrilled about having to do nude scenes, but an eventual trip to the Cannes Film Festival helped lighten her mood.
EMILY WATSON: "They asked me straight away, 'Will you be all right with that?' I wanted the job very badly so I said, 'Of course I will.' Then [after the film was finished] I went to Cannes to do press. The company had a villa and all the producers and everybody were just wandering around naked. [laughs] It kind of made it much more relaxing."
Over the years, people have told Watson that Breaking the Waves has changed their lives.
"Somebody once came up to me and said that they were in the siege of Sarajevo or some awful situation. And that they decided they were going to kill themselves but saw Breaking the Waves and it changed their mind. That's very humbling because it's not me, I was just acting. It really makes you realize the power of cinema."
The Boxer (1997)
While playing the wife of an imprisoned IRA member, Watson gained insight into the troubles of Northern Ireland.
"I'd grown up in London with IRA bombs going off periodically while I was on my way home on the tube. And then I was offered this film and suddenly I found myself in Belfast at the Felons' Club meeting people from the IRA and hearing their stories and why people had done what they had done. It was a real eye-opening experience because before I'd only really seen it from a British point of view and not from the Catholic point of view."
Hilary and Jackie (1998)
To portray the enormously gifted and troubled classical musician Jacqueline du Pré, Watson took a crash course on the cello.
"I basically had to go to school for about two or three months. I learned all the fingering and bowing but I soaked the bow so it was silent. If you actually heard me playing, it was wildly out of tune. Occasionally I would play in a rehearsal room by the Wigmore Hall in London and you'd see [musicians there to give a recital] coming down the stairs peering through the window, going, 'What on God's earth is happening in there?'"
Gosford Park (2001)
Watson was blown away by the late director Robert Altman's ability to handle the enormous cast, which featured a veritable who's who of English A-list actors.
"When I first read the script and saw the cast list, I thought, 'Oh my God, this is going to be a ham and cheese sandwich in the history of film making. It's going to be a real act-off.' But there's something about Altman and the way he does things. He said, 'You get that many actors in a room and they police themselves.' It was just thrilling."
Punch-Drunk Love(2002)
Watson jumped at the chance to work with director Paul Thomas Anderson.
"Paul said, 'I don't want you to do any of the things you usually do, all that preparation and stuff, I just want you to be straight down the middle of you in the moment.' Then he said, 'What sort of thing do you want to do?' I said, 'I don't want to cry and I don't want to die, but apart from that I don't mind.' I'd play the table leg for Paul. I think he's a genius."
It appears audience members weren't the only ones who enjoyed the unlikely pairing of Watson and Adam Sandler.
"There was a glorious vision in my head: I'm sitting in London watching Adam Sandler's oeuvre with my jaw hanging open, and he's sitting in Los Angeles with his jaw hanging open watching mine. [The idea of] Adam sitting down to watch Breaking the Waves tickles me to this day. I watched tons of his stuff, The Water Boy, Little Nicky, lots of Saturday Night Live, and Happy Gilmore — that actually did make me laugh."
Corpse Bride (2005)
In Tim Burton's animated tale, Watson voices the living love interest of Johnny Depp.
"It's very bizarre because it was a big phenomenon but I don't feel that connected to it because it was a few hours of work. But I really enjoyed what I did and I loved spending some time with Tim Burton and kind of just getting a sense of his imagination. [I didn't spend any time with Johnny Depp], but apparently we have great chemistry." [laughs]
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