Key Insights

• Collaboration Impact: Naomi Watts’ collaboration with David Lynch significantly impacted her career.
• First Encounter: Watts described her first meeting with Lynch as a transformative experience.
• Career Breakthrough: The film Mulholland Drive marked a pivotal moment in Watts’ acting career.
• Recognition: Watts received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, celebrating her contributions to film.

Even though she only ever worked with David Lynch on one film (and did a handful of episodes on the Twin Peaks revival), Naomi Watts stands as one of his greatest collaborators. Yes, Mulholland Drive could be the greatest film of the century so far (sorry, Parasite!), but we almost got a TV show instead. While that will also be one of entertainment’s biggest What Ifs, just the opportunity to meet Lynch was a turning point for Watts, who was struggling greatly to get her big break.

Speaking at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony this past weekend, Watts recalled of her first encounter with Lynch, “I pretty much was deemed as unhireable. I was flunking auditions over and over again, or I’d get in a movie and it would get cut down or out. It was just bad luck. The minute I walked in, it just felt different. He was present. He was asking me questions. It felt very different than any previous audition I’d gone to — there were so many where it’s a line of people, you’ve had to wait two hours, you’ve had to drive across town to get there and then go back the next day, and people would barely look at you. But David just lit up, and I was able to connect with him in a different way.”

That pilot of course was transformed into Mulholland Drive, for which Naomi Watts would finally garner overdue attention and David Lynch wound earn what would be his final Best Director nomination (then again, he only made one other feature, so I’d like to think he would have snagged another). Watts would find plenty of good fortune following Mulholland Drive, but that still remains her greatest and most important performance; and it, too, remains one of the films that truly boggles the mind while simultaneously dazzling viewers.

Naomi Watts is the 2,825th individual to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Lynch, for his part, is actually part of the Bob’s Big Boy Hall of Fame, with the Burbank location the spot where he frequently devoured milkshakes and damn fine cups of coffee. It was here that he could often be seen scribbling down ideas on restaurant napkins.