Naomi Ellen Watts

She later appeared in David Cronenberg's crime thriller Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, to critical acclaim. As the movie, Watts also generated positive feedback among critics; Slate magazine remarked in its review that she "brings a wounded radiance to the overcurious midwife Anna. Though it's a bit of a one-note role, it's a note she's long specialised in, a kind of flustered moral aggrievement". Eastern Promises grossed US$56 million worldwide, (equivalent to US$67.9 million in 2016). In 2007, Variety reported that Watts and George Clooney would star in the remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds, which would be directed by Casino Royale director Martin Campbell. On 16 June 2009, Brad Fuller of Dimension Films stated that no further developments had taken place, commenting, "We keep trying, but I don't know." Martin Campbell was eventually replaced as director by Dennis Iliadis in December 2009. In an interview in December 2010, Watts said, "It sounded like a good idea, but the script's not there yet. I'd love to have been a Hitchcock blonde. A few directors I've worked with have been heavily influenced by Hitchcock, so I feel like I've gotten close." She worked with Tippi Hedren, the original star of "The Birds", in David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees (2004). She said of Hedren: "I was pretty fascinated by her then, because people have often said we're alike." Later, she dressed up as Hedren's title character from Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie for a 2008 photo shoot for Vanity Fair magazine.
She appeared with Tim Roth in Michael Haneke's Funny Games (2007), a remake of Haneke's 1997 film of the same name that opened at the London Film Festival. The director said that he agreed to make the film on condition that he be allowed to cast Watts, according to UK's The Daily Telegraph. She portrayed Ann Farber, who with her husband and son are held hostage by a pair of sociopathic teenagers. Watts also served as a producer, as this charge was for her "one way to spice up the deal and be involved in all the creative decisions". The movie generated mixed reviews and received a limited theatrical release in the United States, grossing $7 million, on a $15 million budget. Newsweek felt that Watts "hurls herself into her physically demanding role with heroic conviction". David Stratton, from At the Movies concluded that she was "as usual, really fine". However, New York Daily News criticised her part for being half-naked throughout most of her appearance, considering that it was "an awfully strange way to make a righteous point about exploitation".
• 2009–2013: Independent film acting
After a short hiatus from acting following the birth of her two children, Watts returned to acting in 2009, starring alongside Clive Owen in the political thriller The International. She played a Manhattan assistant district attorney who partners with an Interpol agent to take down the bank. During an interview, Watts commented on her role: "She was operating in this fast-moving world and was a great bouncing board for her colleague, Salinger, but also trying to balance that with motherhood as well, and I think I definitely relate to that now and hopefully other career mothers will too." The International was well received by critics, and grossed over US$60 million (equivalent to $66.2 million in 2016) worldwide. The same year, she appeared in the American drama Mother and Child, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. She portrayed the role of Elizabeth, a lawyer who never knew her biological mother. Watts co-starred the film along with Annette Bening, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. Mother and Child received several favourable reviews, and Watts' performance was praised by Tom Long of Detroit News, who stated that she "has the ability to make such a ragged transition somehow work." She was nominated for the Best Actress award at the Australian Film Institute Awards and was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Supporting Female.