Naomi Ellen Watts

Her next film, the Woody Allen comedy You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, opened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2010. She portrayed Sally, a woman who has a troubled marriage with author Roy, played by Josh Brolin. Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch and Anthony Hopkins also co-starred in the film, which received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over US$26 million (equivalent to $28.2 million in 2016). Also in 2010, she starred as Valerie Plame in the film Fair Game, which opened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, and was later released in the United States on 5 November 2010. Based on Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, it also marked the third pairing of Watts with Sean Penn after 21 Grams and The Assassination of Richard Nixon. Watts was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. Boxoffice magazine wrote: "Watts doesn't get the big emotional scenes that have characterised much of her past work, instead she plays Valerie as a woman suddenly in a corner when her identity goes public. It's brilliantly understated and admirable work." In July of that year, she was announced as the new face of clothing retailer Ann Taylor.
In January 2010, she was cast in the thriller film Dream House, which was released in September 2011. Directed by Jim Sheridan, Watts starred in the film along with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz. In October 2010, it was announced that Watts had landed the role of Marilyn Monroe in the film Blonde, which was set to start shooting in January 2011, but has been delayed. In early 2011, Watts was cast in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role. Watts played Edgar's secretary Helen Gandy. The film was released in December that year, to generally mixed reviews and modest earnings at the box office, with a $84 million worldwide gross over a production budget of $35 million. About Watts' performance, The Hollywood Reporter remarked that she "has little opportunity to express much beyond dogged loyalty" and while Los Angeles Times called her "talented", it also noted that her part was a "thankless one" for the actress.
In 2012, Watts starred in The Impossible, a disaster drama based on the true story of María Belón and her family's experience of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, with Watts playing the lead role. The film received very positive reviews, with critics praising Watts' performance. Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter said that "Watts packs a huge charge of emotion as the battered, ever-weakening Maria whose tears of pain and fear never appear fake or idealised." Justin Chang of Variety magazine noted that "Watts has few equals at conveying physical and emotional extremis, something she again demonstrates in a mostly bedridden role." Damon Wise of The Guardian said that "Watts is both brave and vulnerable, and her scenes with the young Lucas ... are among the film's best." Watts went on to be nominated for the Academy Award, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.
Her first film role in 2013 was in the Australian drama Adore, that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival as Two Mothers. The film opened in selected cinemas, receiving mixed feedback from critics, who concluded that Watts and Robin Wright "give it their all, but they can't quite make Adore's trashy, absurd plot believable". Her next role was with Matt Dillon in Laurie Collyer's indie Sunlight Jr., which was first screened at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Reviewers expressed a warm reception for the film and Watts' performance; AM New York wrote that the film '"belongs to Naomi Watts, playing a woman who retains her dignity in spite of endless difficulties. It's work done between the lines, in the silent moments". San Francisco Chronicle praised the actress and co-star Dillon, stating that they are "formidable actors at the top of their game here and exhibiting a remarkable chemistry". She starred as Diana, Princess of Wales in director Oliver Hirschbiegel's Diana, a biographical drama film, about the last two years of the life of Princess Diana. A box office bomb, the feature received moslty negative reviews, although Watts was acclaimed by a number of critics. Her role was called "extraordinary" and "impressive" by Joshua Rothkopf (Time Out New York) and Jim Schembri (3AW), respectively. Fionnuala Halligan of Screen Daily also gave Watts a positive veredict, writing that her "brave performance should not be under-estimated given the poverty of the dialogue and the pressure of the role".