King Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong.

The film's budget climbed from an initial US$150 million to a record-breaking $207 million. The film was released on December 14, 2005 and made an opening of $50.1 million. While the film performed lower than expectations, King Kong made domestic and worldwide grosses that eventually added up to $550 million,^[1] becoming the fourth-highest grossing movie in Universal Pictures history. Strong DVD sales also added over $100 million to the grosses.^[2] Movie reviewers, who gave King Kong critical praise, consider it one of the all-round best movies of 2005, though it has been criticised for its 3 hour, 7 minute running time. It won Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.

Plot[link]

In 1933, at the height of the Great Depression in New York City, Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) has lost her job as a vaudeville actress but is hired by troubled filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) to act in his new motion picture. Ann signs on when she learns her favourite playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) is the screenwriter. As their tramp steamer SS Venture sails to the mysterious Skull Island, they slowly fall in love. As for Carl, a warrant is out for his arrest and Captain Englehorn (Thomas Kretschmann) begins to have second thoughts, following the fears of his crew about Skull Island and its strange creatures that have evolved alone from the outside world. Despite his attempt to turn around, the ship is lost in fog and runs aground on the rocks encircling the island.

Carl and his crew explore the island to film and are attacked by the vicious natives. Mike (Craig Hall), the sound technician, is speared, one of the sailors has his head bashed in, and Jack is knocked out. Ann screams as she is captured, and a roar beyond the wall responds. The matriarch of the tribe vows to sacrifice her to "Kong", a 25 ft (8m) tall gorilla, and the last of its kind. Englehorn and his crew break up the attack and return to the stranded ship. They lighten their load to steer away, but Jack discovers Ann has been kidnapped. On the island, Ann is hung from a balcony on the side of the wall. The crew comes armed, but is too late as Kong takes Ann into the jungle.

Captain Englehorn organizes a rescue party to find Ann and hunt down the beast. The rescue party is caught up in a Venatosaurus pack's hunt of Apatosaurus, and Herb (John Sumner), the cameraman, is killed along with three sailors. The rest of the rescue party come across a swamp where Bruce Baxter (Kyle Chandler) and two others leave the group. Meanwhile, Ann manages to entertain Kong with juggling and dancing. The survivors stumble across a log, where Kong arrives and attacks, shaking them off the log into a ravine. He returns to rescue Ann from three Vastatosaurus Rex, and takes her up to his mountain lair. Englehorn and the rest of the crew rescue what is left of the rescue party from the pit of giant insects, and as Jack decides to continue to search for Ann, Carl decides to capture Kong. Jack goes to Kong's lair, waking him. As Kong fights a swarm of flying Terapusmordax, Ann and Jack escape by grabbing the wing of one of the bats and then jumping into a river. They arrive at the village wall with the angry Kong following them, and Ann becomes distraught by what Carl plans to do. Kong bursts through the gate and struggles to get her back, but he is eventually knocked out by chloroform.

In New York around Christmas, Carl presents a chained Kong — the Eighth Wonder of the World on Broadway, starring Baxter and an imprisoned Kong. Ann has become an anonymous chorus girl and a double of her is no replacement in Kong's eyes. Camera flashes from photographers enrage the gorilla. Kong breaks free from his chrome-steel chains and chases Jack across town, where he encounters Ann again. They share a quiet moment on a frozen lake in Central Park, before the army attacks. Kong climbs with Ann onto the Empire State Building, where he fights off planes sent to attack him, downing three of them. Ultimately, Kong is hit by several bursts of gunfire from the surviving planes, and gazes at a distraught Ann for the last time before falling off the building to his death. Ann is greeted by Jack, and the reporters gather around Kong's carcass. Carl takes one last look and says, "It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."

Cast[link]

• Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow: a struggling vaudeville actress who is desperate for work. Carl first meets her when she tries to steal an apple from a fruit stand. As the voyage goes on she falls in love with Jack and she forms a special relationship with Kong, going so far as to climb the building with King Kong.
• Andy Serkis as Kong (motion capture and voice): A 25 ft mountain gorilla who is around 120–150 years old.^[3] He is the last of his species, Megaprimatus kong.
• Jack Black as Carl Denham: a film director who obtained the map to Skull Island. Due to his debts Carl starts to lose his moral compass and obsesses over his film..
• Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll: a scriptwriter who falls for Ann. He is on the voyage mistakenly, when he delivers 15 pages of script to Denham and delays him when the venture begins its voyage.
• Thomas Kretschmann as Captain Englehorn: the German Captain of the Venture, who shows a dislike for Denham .
• Colin Hanks as Preston: Denham's neurotic but honest personal assistant.
• Jamie Bell as Jimmy: a boy, found on the Venture, wild and abandoned. He is a kleptomaniac and views Hayes as a father figure.
• Andy Serkis as Lumpy: the ship's cook, barber and surgeon. He warns Denham about rumors he has heard about Skull Island and Kong. He joins the search for Ann but is killed in the insect pit.
• Evan Parke as Ben Hayes: Englehorn's first mate and a friend of Lumpy, who leads Ann's rescue mission because of his army training and combat experience gained during World War I. He is killed after Kong throws him against a rock wall during the log scene.
• Kyle Chandler as Bruce Baxter: an actor who specialises in adventure films. He abandons Ann's rescue mission but brings Englehorn to rescue the search party from the insect pit, and is given credit for rescuing Ann during the Broadway display of Kong.
• John Sumner as Herb: Denham's loyal cameraman. He is eaten by a Venatosaurus.
• Lobo Chan as Choy: Lumpy's best friend and a janitor on the Venture, who falls to his death during the log scene.
• Craig Hall as Mike: Denham's soundman for the journey. He is the first person to be killed when the Skull Island natives spear him.
• William Johnson as Manny: an elderly vaudevillian actor who befriends Ann Darrow at the beginning of the picture.
• Mark Hadlow as Harry: a struggling vaudevillian actor.
• Jed Brophy and Todd Rippon cameoed as crew members.

Production[link]

Development[link]

Peter Jackson was a nine-year-old in the New Zealand town of Pukerua Bay when he first saw the 1933 version of King Kong. He was in tears in front of the TV when Kong slipped off the Empire State Building.^[4] At age 12 he tried to recreate the film using his parents' super-8 camera and a model of Kong made of wire and rubber with his mother's fur coat for the hair, but eventually gave up on the project.^[5] In 1996, he developed a version that was in pre-production for 6–7 months, but the studio cancelled it.^[6] This is most likely because of the release of Mighty Joe Young and Godzilla the same year.^[5] During this time Jackson had achieved the designs of the Brontosaurus and the Venatosaurus.^[5] No casting was ever done, but he had hoped to get George Clooney and Robert De Niro for the roles of Jack Driscoll and Carl Denham, respectively.^[7]

He then began work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy.^[8] With the overwhelming box office and critical success of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Universal contacted him during production of the second film,^[5] and he was paid $20 million USD to direct this film, the highest salary Hollywood ever paid a director.^[9]

Screenplay development[link]

Jackson has stated that the script significantly changed between the 1996 and 2005 drafts. He described his first rough draft as a "tongue-in-cheek comedic film with elements of Raiders of the Lost Ark and other films", and in retrospect he is glad that Universal pulled the plug on this version of the film, as he was able to rework the screenplay into something better.^[5]

In Jackson's original 1996 draft of the script, Ann was the daughter of famed English archaeologist Lord Linwood Darrow exploring ancient ruins in Sumatra.^[10] They would come into conflict with Denham during his filming, and they would uncover a hidden Kong statue and the map of Skull Island. This would indicate that the island natives were the last remnants of a cult religion that had once thrived on the mainland of Asia. Instead of a playwright, Jack was the first mate and an ex-First World War fighter pilot still struggling with the loss of his best friend, who had been killed in battle during a World War I prologue.^[10] Herb the camera-man is the only supporting character in the original draft who made it to the final version. The fight between Kong and the three T. rex also changed from the original draft. In the draft, Ann is actually caught in the T. rex's jaws, where she becomes wedged, and slashed by the teeth; after the fight, Kong gets her out but she is suffering from a fever, from which she then recovers.

The rewriting of the script between 1996 and 2005 involved basing the characters more closely on the 1933 ones, but adding more detail (the screenplay takes no material from the 1976 version).^[11] The process began with a nine minute animatic created by Jackson and shown to the writing team, causing Philippa Boyens to cry^{[citation needed]}. Jackson, alongside Christian Rivers and his team, created animatics for all the action sequences which wound up becoming the first stage in animation. The Empire State Building animatic in particular, was completely replicated in the final film.^[5]

Pre-production[link]

Jackson decided early on that he did not want Kong to behave like a human, and so he and his team studied hours of gorilla footage.^[12] Andy Serkis, who modelled his movement, went to London Zoo to watch the gorillas, but was unsatisfied. He ended up going to Rwanda to observe mountain gorillas in the wild with a company called Rainbow Tours. The resulting Kong is entirely a special effect, who acts and moves very much like a real gorilla.^[13]

Apart from Kong, Skull Island is inhabited by dinosaurs and other large fauna. Inspired by the works of Dougal Dixon, the designers imagined what 65 million years or more of isolated evolution might have done to dinosaurs.^[5]

Difficulties[link]

The film's budget climbed from an initial US$150 million to a record-breaking $207 million,^[14] making it at one point the most expensive film yet made. Universal Pictures only agreed to such an outlay after seeing a screening of the unfinished film, to which executives responded enthusiastically. Marketing and promotion costs were an estimated $60 million. The film's length also grew; originally set to be 135 minutes, it soon grew to 200, prompting Universal executives to fly to New Zealand to view a rough cut, but they liked it so their concerns were addressed.^[15]

Other difficulties included Peter Jackson's decision to change composers from Howard Shore to James Newton Howard seven weeks before the film opened.^[16]

Release[link]

The marketing campaign for King Kong started in full swing on June 27, 2005, when the teaser trailer made its debut, first online at the official Volkswagen website at 8:45 p.m. EST, then 8:55 p.m. EST across media outlets owned by NBC Universal (the parent of Universal Studios), including NBC, Bravo!, CNBC and MSNBC. That trailer appeared in theatres attached to War of the Worlds, which opened on June 29.^[3]

Jackson also regularly published a series of 'Production Diaries', which chronicled the making of the film. The diaries started shortly after the DVD release of The Return of the King as a way to give Jackson's The Lord of the Rings fans a glimpse of his next project. These diaries are edited into broadband-friendly installments of three or four minutes each. They consist of features that would normally be seen in a making-of documentary: a tour of the set, a roving camera introducing key players behind the scene, a peek inside the sound booth during last-minute dubbing, or Andy Serkis doing his ape movements in a motion capture studio.^[17]

A novelisation of the movie and a prequel entitled The Island of the Skull was also written. A multi-platform video game entitled Peter Jackson's King Kong was released, which featured an alternate ending. There was a hardback book entitled The World of Kong, featuring artwork from Weta Workshop to describe the fictional bestiary in the film.

Reception[link]

The billboard at the Odeon Leicester Square premiere

With a take of $9.7 million on its Wednesday opening day, and with an opening weekend gross of $50.1 million, King Kong's opening numbers did not meet expectations of Universal Pictures executives. Its opening weekend of $50.1 million, while good for most movies, fell short of the inflated expectations that preceded the film.^[18]

However, King Kong was able to hold its audience in the subsequent holiday weeks and ended up becoming a domestic hit, grossing $218.1 million at the North American box office (putting it in the top five grossing films of 2005 domestically).^[19] King Kong fared much better in the international market, as it grossed $332.4 million outside North America, leading to a worldwide total of $550.5 million, that not only put it in the top five grossing films of 2005 worldwide,^[20] but also helped the film bring back more than two and half times its production budget.

Other factors also affect a film's profitability besides box office sales, such as the DVD sales. King Kong, sold over $100 million worth of DVDs in the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history.^[21] As of April 3, 2006, King Kong has sold more than 7.5 million DVDs, accumulating over $140 million worth of sales numbers, domestically alone.^[22] As of June 25, 2006 King Kong has generated almost $38 million from DVD rental gross.^[23] As well, in February 2006, Universal received $26.5 million from TNT/TBS and ABC for the television rights to the film.^[24]

Thus, despite the film's inauspicious start at the box office, King Kong turned out to be very profitable. Ticket and DVD sales combined, the film earned well over $700 million,^[25][26] becoming the fourth-highest grossing movie in Universal Pictures history.

Critical reaction[link]

King Kong received a favorable critical response, garnering an 84% "Certified Fresh" approval rating among 'T-Meter Critics', and a 79% rating among 'Top Critics' on Rotten Tomatoes.^[27] The most common criticisms of the film were of its excessive length, lack of pace, over-use of slow motion, and some obvious use of CGI effects. Positive critical reviews regarded it as one of the few good epics and all-round best movies of 2005. Roger Ebert gave the movie four stars, and listed it as the 8th best film of 2005.^[28] Similarly, King Kong has been included in many critics' Top Ten of 2005 lists.^[29] The film received four Academy Award nominations for Visual Effects, Sound Mixing (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek), Sound Editing, and Art Direction, winning all but the last.^[30][31] Entertainment Weekly called the depiction of Kong the most convincing computer generated character in film in 2005.^[32] Some criticised the film for retaining racist stereotypes present in the original film, though it was not suggested that Jackson had done this intentionally.^[33] King Kong ranks 450th on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.^[34]

Future[link]

Possible 3-D release[link]

Peter Jackson has expressed his desire to remaster the film in 3-D at some point in the future.^[35] Jackson was also seen shooting with a 3-D camera at times during the shoot of King Kong.^[36]

Cinematic and literary allusions[link]

• Jamie Bell's character is repeatedly shown reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, a novel about a journey into a primitive land and mankind's exploitation of fellow man.

• Jack Black and critics have noted Carl Denham's similarity to Orson Welles.^[37]

• When Jack Driscoll is searching for a place to sleep in the animal storage hold, a box behind him reads Sumatran Rat Monkey — Beware the bite! – a reference to the creature that causes mayhem in Peter Jackson's film Braindead (1992)^[38] (in that film, the rat monkey is described as being found only on Skull Island).

[edit] References to earlier versions of King Kong

• Fay Wray, the original Ann Darrow, was asked by Peter Jackson to do a brief cameo in which she would utter the film's final line: "It was beauty killed the beast." At first she flatly refused, but then seemed to consider the possibility. However, she died shortly after her meeting with Jackson.^[37] The line ultimately went to the character of Carl Denham, as in the original.

• An ad for Universal Pictures is visible while Kong is tearing up Times Square. In the original film, an ad for Columbia Pictures appeared in the same spot, and the production designers replicated it, but Columbia asked for a large amount of money for its use, so effects artists replaced it.^[38]

• When Denham is considering who to play the part before meeting Ann, he suggests "Fay", but his assistant Preston replies, "She's doing a picture with RKO." Music from the 1933 original is heard, and Denham mutters, "Cooper, huh? I might have known." Fay Wray starred in the 1933 film, which was directed by Merian C. Cooper and released by RKO.^[38]

• When Carl Denham calls Bruce Baxter and Ann Darrow to film a scene on the deck of the ship, the shot is essentially identical to a scene between Ann and Jack Driscoll in the 1933 version.

• In the original film, Merian C. Cooper made up an "Arabian proverb" about "beauty and beast". The 2005 remake repeats the fake proverb.^[38]

• Kong's New York stage appearance looks very much like a re-enactment of the sacrifice scene of the 1933 film, including the posts the 'beauty' is tied to and the nearly identical performance and costumes of the dancers. In addition, the music played by the orchestra during that scene is the original 1933 score by Max Steiner.^[38]

• The 1933 film featured an extended sequence in which several members of the party were devoured by massive spiders and insects after being shaken off a log into a ravine by Kong. This scene was pulled before release when Cooper decided it slowed the film down. Peter Jackson recreated the scene for the 2005 remake. He also paid homage to the spider pit sequence by recreating the scene using stop motion photography, which he included as an extra for the deluxe DVD release of the original 1933 film.

• The battle between Kong and the final T. rex is almost move-for-move like the last half of the fight between Kong and the T. rex in the original 1933 film, right down to Kong playing with the dinosaur's broken jaw and then standing, beating his chest and roaring victoriously.^[38]

• After the crew captures Kong on the beach, Denham speaks a line from the 1933 film: "The whole world will pay to see this! We're millionaires, boys! I'll share it with all of you. In a few months, his name will be up in lights on Broadway! KONG, THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD!" ^[38]

• In the original film, director and co-director Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack appear in cameos as the pilot and rear-gunner who shoot Kong. In the 2005 film, Jackson plays one of the gunners; the pilot is played by Rick Baker, who played Kong (in a rubber suit) in the 1976 remake.^[38]

Soundtrack[link]

King Kong: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. Originally Howard Shore, who worked with Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings, was to compose the score for the film and recorded several completed cues before he was removed from the project by Jackson. Shore makes a cameo appearance as the conductor in the theatre from which Kong escapes. The film's record album was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.^[39]

Track listing

1. "King Kong" – 1:09
2. "A Fateful Meeting" – 4:16
3. "Defeat Is Always Momentary" – 2:48
4. "It's In the Subtext" – 3:19
5. "Two Grand" – 2:34
6. "The Venture Departs" – 4:03
7. "Last Blank Space On the Map" – 4:43
8. "It's Deserted" – 7:08
9. "Something Monstrous… Neither Beast Nor Man" – 2:38
10. "Head Towards the Animals" – 2:48
11. "Beautiful" – 4:08
12. "Tooth and Claw" – 6:17
13. "That's All There Is…" – 3:26
14. "Captured" – 2:25
15. "Central Park" – 4:36
16. "The Empire State Building" – 2:36
17. "Beauty Killed the Beast (Part I)" – 1:59
18. "Beauty Killed the Beast (Part II)" – 2:22
19. "Beauty Killed the Beast (Part III)" – 2:14
20. "Beauty Killed the Beast (Part IV)" – 4:45
21. "Beauty Killed the Beast (Part V)" – 4:13

The music played during the vaudeville sequence at the beginning of the movie is the classic song "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" by Al Jolson. However, it has not been included in the original soundtrack album.

Home media[link]

King Kong was released on DVD on March 28, 2006 in the United States. The three versions that came out were single disc fullscreen, single disc widescreen and a 2-Disc Widescreen Special Edition. The second disc of the Special Edition contains the remainder of almost all the KongisKing.net production diaries not contained on the Peter Jackson's Production Diaries DVD set. The only missing episode is "13 Weeks To Go" which contained footage of Howard Shore recording the original score. It is still available on the website. King Kong was not released on VHS in the United States, but it was exclusively released on VHS in Germany.

The 3 disc Deluxe Extended Edition was released on November 14, 2006 in the U.S.A.,^[40] and on November 1 in Australia.^[41] Thirteen minutes were put back into the film, and a further 40 minutes presented alongside the rest of the special features. The film was spread onto the first two discs with commentary by Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens, and some featurettes on Discs 1 and 2, whilst the main Special Features are on Disc 3. Another set was released, including a WETA figurine of a bullet-ridden Kong scaling the Empire State Building, roaring at the army with Ann in hand. The extended film amounts to 201 minutes in total.^[42]

A special HD DVD version of King Kong was part of a promotional pack for the release of the external HD DVD Drive for the Xbox 360. The pack contained the HD DVD drive, the Universal Media Remote and King Kong on HD DVD.^[43] It was also available separately as a standard HD DVD.^[44] The film's theatrical and extended cuts were released together on Blu-ray Disc on January 20, 2009.^[45]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: King Kong (2005 film)

Wikinews has related news: 2006 Oscars handed out at Kodak Theatre

• Official website
• King Kong at the Internet Movie Database
• King Kong at AllRovi
• King Kong at Rotten Tomatoes
• King Kong at Box Office Mojo

Jack Black
Jack Black, Los Angeles, California on October 4, 2011
Background information
Also known as	Jables, JB
Born	(1969-08-28) August 28, 1969 (age 42)[1] Santa Monica, California, United States
Genres	Rock, comedy rock, heavy metal, hard rock, acoustic rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, actor, comedian
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, percussion, keyboard
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Epic, Sony BMG
Associated acts	Tenacious D, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Probot, Foo Fighters, Meat Loaf, Ronnie James Dio
Website	www.tenaciousd.com

Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969)^[1] is an American comedian, actor and musician. He makes up one half of the comedy and satirical rock duo Tenacious D. The group has three albums as well as a television series and a film. His acting career is extensive, starring primarily as bumbling, cocky, but internally self-conscious outsiders in comedy films. He was a member of the Frat Pack, a group of comedians who have appeared together in several Hollywood films, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe award. He has also won an MTV Movie Award, and a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award as well as hosting the 2006, 2008, and 2011 Kids Choice Awards.

Early life[link]

Black was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of two satellite engineers, Judith (née Cohen), who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, and Thomas William Black.^[2][3] His mother is Jewish and his father converted to Judaism (Black attended Hebrew school).^[4][5] On The Tonight Show, he said his surname may have come from the occupational name Blacksmith.^[6] Black's parents divorced when he was 10; Black moved to Culver City with his father and frequently visited his mother’s home. As a child, Black appeared in a commercial for the Activision game Pitfall! in 1982,^[7] which was later shown during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and again on The Tonight Show with Conan O' Brien. When Black entered high school, his parents enrolled him at the Poseidon School, a private secondary school engineered specifically for students struggling in the traditional school system.^[8] Black also attended the Crossroads School, where he excelled in drama. He later attended UCLA but dropped out during his sophomore year to pursue a career in entertainment, at which point his father discontinued his financial support.^{[citation needed]} Fellow UCLA alumnus Tim Robbins later cast Black in Bob Roberts. He also had recurring roles on the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show.

Career[link]

Acting career[link]

Black's acting career began with prime time television. He played roles on shows including Life Goes On, Northern Exposure, Mr. Show, Picket Fences, and The X-Files. Black appeared in the unaired TV pilot Heat Vision and Jack, directed by Ben Stiller, in which he played an ex-astronaut pursued by actor Ron Silver. He was accompanied by his friend who had merged with a motorcycle, voiced by Owen Wilson.

Black later took on small roles in Airborne, Demolition Man, Waterworld, The Fan, Mars Attacks!, Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking, and others. He had a small role in True Romance as a security guard, but the scene was deleted. In 2000, he appeared in High Fidelity as a wild employee in John Cusack's record store, a role Black considers his breakout.^{[citation needed]}

His career soon led to leading roles in films such as Shallow Hal, Nacho Libre, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Year One and Gulliver's Travels. He received particular praise for his starring role in the well-received School of Rock, earning critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Musical Or Comedy.^[9] In a rare move, he starred in a dramatic role as the obsessed filmmaker Carl Denham in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong, a performance he based on Orson Welles. He voiced the title role in Kung Fu Panda, which grossed $20.3 million on its opening day, June 6, 2008, and Kung Fu Panda 2; it is a role he considers his favorite, with a performance enhanced with the tutoring of co-star and two time Academy Award winner, Dustin Hoffman. On September 13, 2009 before nominees for best rock video at MTV Video Music Awards Black led the audience in a Satanic prayer in which he told the audience to throw up their horns.^[10] His next film, The Big Year, a competitive birdwatching comedy co-starring Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and JoBeth Williams, was released in October 2011. He is referred to in the media as a member of the Frat Pack,^{[citation needed]} a group of comedy actors who frequently work together, which also includes Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carell.

He guest-starred on The Office along with Cloris Leachman, Jessica Alba, and Steve Carell in a movie within the show. He also guest-starred in iCarly, in the episode iStart a Fan War.

Black has appeared numerous times on the "untelevised TV network" short film festival Channel101, created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab, starring in the shows Computerman, Timebelt, and Laserfart. He also provided an introduction for the unaired sketch comedy Awesometown, donning a Colonial-era military uniform. In the introduction, he claims to be George Washington (and takes credit for the accomplishments of other American Presidents such as Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln). Black also guest starred in the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" show Tom Goes to the Mayor, as a bear-trap store owner. Black also guest-starred on Dan Harmon's show Community.

Black hosted the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards on April 1, 2006 and hosted it again March 29, 2008, and April 2, 2011. He also appeared on the MTV video music awards on August 31, 2006. Black has made five appearances on Saturday Night Live: three times as a host, once as a musical guest (with Kyle Gass as Tenacious D), and another appearance with Tenacious D, not as a host or musical guest. He produced and appeared on VH1's Internet video show Acceptable.TV.^[11]

Black voice acted for The Simpsons episode "Husbands and Knives", which aired November 18, 2007, voicing the friendly owner of the rival comic book store, Milo. Black took part in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? celebrity edition along with Denis Leary, Jimmy Kimmel and others and was handed the prize of US$125,000 in October 2001.^[12] On December 14, Jack Black hosted the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards. He provided the voice of the main character, roadie Eddie Riggs, in the heavy metal-themed action-adventure video game, Brütal Legend. In 2009, at the Spike Video Game Awards, he earned the Best Voice award for the voice of Eddie Riggs in Brütal Legend. In April 2009, Black also starred in an episode of the children's show "Yo Gabba Gabba!" on Nick Jr. vocalized funny kid songs such as "It's Not Fun to Get Lost", "Friends" and "The Goodbye Song". He was also voiced as Po on Kung Fu Panda.

Music career[link]

Jack Black with Kyle Gass of Tenacious D.

Black, also known as JB or Jables, is the lead singer for the rock comedy band Tenacious D. Along with Kyle Gass, they have released three albums, a self-titled debut, the follow-up, The Pick of Destiny, and Rize of the Fenix. One of their songs "The Metal", from their album "The Pick of Destiny" was used in the music video games "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" and "Brütal Legend". "Rock Your Socks" from the album "Tenacious D" was played in the music videogame "Rock Band Unplugged", and "Master Exploder" from "The Pick Of Destiny" went on to be used in music video games "Guitar Hero Van Halen" and "Rock Band 2", along with their song "Tribute" from "Tenacious D". "Master Exploder" and "The Metal" featured in the film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. The film, directed by Tenacious D veteran Liam Lynch, features recurring characters such as Lee the superfan and Sasquatch. Tim Robbins cameos as does Dave Grohl and Satan. Ben Stiller also makes an appearance as a worker at Guitar Center, and also another appearance in the music video for "Tribute".

Tenacious D helped the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation^[13] to raise awareness and funds in San Diego on June 16, 2007. Tenacious D can be seen performing in the Pauly Shore film Bio-Dome where the duo is performing its song "The Five Needs" at a "Save the Environment" party. Black was also a guest star on an episode of The Ellen Degeneres Show entitled "Ellen the Musical", alongside Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth and teenage singer-actress Olivia Olson. On the show, besides singing, he discussed his then-upcoming film Nacho Libre with the host.

Black has also appeared on Dave Grohl's Probot album, providing vocals for the hidden song "I Am The Warlock", and Lynch's Fake Songs album, providing vocals for the song "Rock and Roll Whore". Black performed a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in the last sequence of High Fidelity. He lent his musical abilities to the Queens of the Stone Age song "Burn the Witch" with rhythmic stomps and claps, some performed with his eyes closed. He also provided vocals for The Lonely Island's track "Sax Man" from the album Incredibad.

Black has also recorded a duet on Meat Loaf's new CD Hang Cool Teddy Bear. The song is called Like a Rose. Meat Loaf has also played Black's father in the Pick of Destiny movie. Hang Cool Teddy Bear also features Hugh Laurie, Kara Dioguardi, Brian May, Steve Vai & Patti Russo, produced by Rob Cavallo.

Black performing in 2006

Black has appeared in music videos of Beck "Sexx Laws"; Foo Fighters "Learn To Fly", "Low", and "The One"; The Eagles of Death Metal's "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)"; Sum 41's "Things I Want"; Dio's "Push"; and Weezer's "Photograph." In October 2010, Tenacious D appeared at BlizzCon 2010, a convention hosted by the game designers, Blizzard Entertainment.

Personal life[link]

In January 2006, Black became engaged to Tanya Haden. She is the daughter of the jazz double bassist Charlie Haden, and sister of violinist and singer Petra Haden. Haden herself is an accomplished cellist. Both attended Crossroads school and met again 15 years after graduating, at a friend's birthday party. Black proposed marriage around Christmas 2005. They married on March 14, 2006, in Big Sur, California.^[14] Their son, Samuel Jason "Sammy" Black, was born on June 10, 2006, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.^[15] On May 23, 2008, Black and his wife had their second son, Thomas David Black.^[16] Black is an atheist, but is still considering sending his children to a Jewish school.^[17][18]

Filmography[link]

Television work[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jack Black

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jack Black

• Jack Black at the Internet Movie Database
• Jack Black at AllRovi
• Jack Black collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Margot at the Wedding
• Suicide Girls interview
• Jack Black in King Kong
• The Tao of Jack Black, Steve Ramos, Cincinnati CityBeat, October 8, 2003

Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts in 2012
Born	Naomi Ellen Watts (1968-09-28) 28 September 1968 (age 43) Shoreham, Kent, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1986–present
Partner	Liev Schreiber (2005–present; 2 children)

Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British^[1] actress who began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! (1990), Brides of Christ (1991), E Street (1991) and Home and Away (1991). Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone. Her following portrayals included roles in B-class movies, such as the 1996 horror film Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering, as well as roles in television and independent films.

Watts gained critical acclaim following her work in David Lynch's 2001 psychological thriller Mulholland Drive, starring alongside Justin Theroux and Laura Harring. The next year, she received public recognition for her participation in the box office hit horror film The Ring. In 2004, she received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress as well as for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Cristina Peck in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 2003 drama 21 Grams, alongside Sean Penn. Other film roles include the 2005 remake of King Kong, the 2006 remake of The Painted Veil, the 2007 thriller Eastern Promises, and the 2009 thriller The International. In 2010, Watts portrayed Valerie Plame Wilson, opposite Sean Penn as Joe Wilson, in Fair Game.

In 2002, she was included in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 2006, Watts became a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which helps to raise awareness of AIDS-related issues. She has participated in several fundraisers for the cause, and she is presented as an inaugural member of AIDS Red Ribbon Awards.

Early life and education[link]

Watts was born in Shoreham, Kent, England. She is the daughter of Myfanwy Edwards (née Roberts), a Welsh antiques dealer and costume and set designer,^[2] and Peter Watts, an English road manager and sound engineer who worked with Pink Floyd.^[3][4] Her parents divorced when she was four years old.^[4][5] After the divorce, Watts and her brother, Ben, were raised by their grandparents and two aunts, as well as her mother. Watts' mother relocated the family several times around Wales and England, in most cases to be near a new boyfriend. Peter Watts left Pink Floyd in 1974, and he and Myfanwy were later reconciled. Two years later, in August 1976, he was found dead in his flat of Notting Hill of an apparent heroin overdose.^[6]

Following his death, Watts' mother moved the family to Llanfawr Farm, on Anglesey in North Wales, where they lived with Watts's maternal grandparents, Nikki and Hugh Edwards Roberts. During this time, she attended a Welsh language school, Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni, where she carried out her studies for several years.^[7] Watts described her mother (also an actress) as a hippie "with passive-aggressive tendencies" and no money, who used to threaten to send her and her brother to foster care in order to get her parents to provide for them.^[8]

Watts has stated that she wanted to become an actress since she watched the 1980 film Fame.^[9] Watts moved to Australia with her mother and brother when she was 14, during the early 1980s (her maternal grandmother was Australian).^[4][10] Her mother worked as a stylist for television commercials, then turning to costume designing, ultimately working for the soap opera Return To Eden. Watts was enrolled in acting lessons by her mother. She also auditioned for television advertising.^[6]

She attended Mosman High School and North Sydney Girls' High School, where she was a classmate of actress Nicole Kidman.^[11] Watts failed to graduate from school, after working as a papergirl, a negative cutter, and managing a Delicacies store in Sydney's north shore. She decided to become a model when she was 18. She signed with a models agency that sent her to Japan, but after several failed auditions she returned to Sydney.^[4] There, she was hired to work in advertising for a department store, that exposed her to the attention of Follow Me, a magazine which hired her as an assistant fashion editor.^[6] A casual invitation to participate in a drama workshop returned Watts to acting, and prompted her to quit her job and to seek to succeed as an actress.^[12]

Regarding her nationality, Watts has stated: "I consider myself British and have very happy memories of the UK. I spent the first 14 years of my life in England and Wales and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia I went back to England a lot."^[13] She also has expressed her nationalism for Australia, declaring: "I consider myself very Australian and very connected to Australia, in fact when people say where is home, I say Australia, because those are my most powerful memories."^[14]

Career[link]

Early work, 1986–2000[link]

Watts's career began in Australian television, where she made brief appearances in commercials.^[10] The 1986 drama For Love Alone, set in the 1930s and based on Christina Stead's 1945 best-seller novel of the same name, marked her debut in film.^[15] The director John Duigan invited her to take a supporting role in his 1991 indie film, Flirting, during the 1989 premiere of Dead Calm,^[10] after a five years absence in film.^[16] She was starred opposite future Hollywood up-and-comers Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton. The movie received critical acclaim and was featured on Roger Ebert's list of the 10 best movies of 1992.^[17] The same year, she took the part of Frances Heffernan, a girl who struggles to find friends behind the walls of a Sydney Catholic school,^[18] in the award winning mini-series^[19] Brides of Christ, and appeared in four episodes of Home and Away.^[20] In 1993 she appeared in another of Duigan's pictures, Wide Sargasso Sea.

The difficulty at finding agents, producers and directors during the transition from Australia to Los Angeles frustrated her initial efforts. Her financial situation led her to take a job out of the film industry, when experiencing problems like being unable to pay the rent of her apartment and losing her medical insurance.^[6] After a small role in the 1993 comedy picture Matinee, which featured John Goodman in the leading role, she landed the supporting role of "Jet Girl" in the futuristic 1995 film Tank Girl.^[21]

Throughout the rest of the decade, she took supporting roles on television, including the series Sleepwalkers,^[22] and numerous B-list productions, such Children of the Corn IV, in which children in a small town become possessed under the command of a wrongfully murdered child preacher^[4] and Bermuda Triangle, where she played a former documentary filmmaker who disappears in the Bermuda Triangle,.^[23] Much of her early career is filled with near misses in casting, as she was up for significant roles in films such as the 1997 The Postman and Meet the Parents, which eventually went to other actresses.^[24] In Dangerous Beauty, she played Giulia De Lezze.^[10] In 1999, she played Alice in the romantic comedy Strange Planet and the Texan student Holly Maddux in The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer.^[25][26]

2001–2004[link]

Watts with filmmaker David Lynch at 2001 the Cannes Film Festival

Director David Lynch interviewed Watts, without having seen any of her previous work,^[27] for his psychological thriller Mulholland Drive. The film, which also starred Justin Theroux and Laura Harring, was highly acclaimed by critics and would become Watts's breakthrough. Lynch stated about his selection of Watts, "I saw someone that I felt had a tremendous talent, and I saw someone who had a beautiful soul, an intelligence—possibilities for a lot of different roles, so it was a beautiful full package."^[28] The film premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and received a large number of awards and nominations, including the Best Actress distinction for Watts from the National Society of Film Critics and the American Film Institute.^[29] The surrealist film following the story of the aspiring actress Betty Elms (Watts) attracted controversy with its strong lesbian theme.^[30][31] She was praised by the critics, including Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian, who wrote, "Watts's face metamorphoses miraculously from fresh-faced beauty to a frenzied, teary scowl of ugliness. She must surely be a favourite for the best actress Academy award.",^[32] and Emanuel Levy, who wrote, "[...]Naomi Watts, in a brilliant performance, a young, wide-eyed and grotesquely cheerful blonde, full of high hopes to make it big in Hollywood."^[33]

In 2002, she starred in one of the biggest box office hits of that year, the English language remake of the Japanese horror film The Ring, directed by Gore Verbinski. The film, which also starred Martin Henderson and Brian Cox, grossed around US$129 million domestically (equivalent to US$166.7 million in 2012).^[34] The film received favourable reviews; Watts portrayed Rachel Keller, a journalist investigating the strange deaths of her niece and other teenagers after watching a mysterious videotape, and receiving a phone call announcing their deaths in seven days.^[35] Her performance was praised by critics, including Paul Clinton of CNN.com, who stated that she "is excellent in this leading role, which proves that her stellar performance in Mulholland Drive was not a fluke. She strikes a perfect balance between scepticism and the slow realisation of the truth in regard to the deadly power of the videotape."^[36]

The following year, she took the part of Julia Cook in Gregor Jordan's Australian film Ned Kelly opposite Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush,^[37] as well as the Merchant-Ivory film Le Divorce portraying Roxeanne de Persand, a poet who is abandoned by her husband Charles-Henri de Persand at the time she is pregnant. Roxeanne and her sister Isabel (Kate Hudson) dispute the ownership of a painting by Georges de la Tour with the family of Henri's lover. Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C" rating and lamented Watts's performance: "I'm disappointed to report that Hudson and Watts have no chemistry as sisters, perhaps because Watts never seems like the expatriate artiste she's supposed to be playing".^[38]

Her performance opposite Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro in director Alejandro González Iñárritu's 2003 drama 21 Grams earned Watts her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress later that year.^[39] In the story, told in a non-lineal manner, she portrayed Cristina Peck, a grief-stricken woman living a suburban life after the killing of her husband and two children by Jack Jordan (Benicio del Toro), who started a relationship with the critically ill academic mathematician Paul Rivers (Sean Penn). She said of the nomination, "It's far beyond what I ever dreamed for – that would have been too far fetched".^[40] She also was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, as well as many other nominations and acclaim.^[41] The New York Times praised her: "Because Ms. Watts reinvents herself with each performance, it's easy to forget how brilliant she is. She has a boldness that comes from a lack of overemphasis, something actresses sometimes do to keep up with Mr. Penn".^[42] The San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Watts is riveting, but she's much better in scenes of extreme emotion than in those requiring subtlety."^[43]

She produced and starred alongside Mark Ruffalo in the well-received 2004 independent film We Don't Live Here Anymore, directed by John Curran. Watts played Edith Evans. The film is a drama which was based on the short stories We Don't Live Here Anymore and Adultery by Andre Dubus, and depicts the crisis of two married couples.^[44] She reunited with Sean Penn in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, which was set in 1974. She played Marie Andersen Bicke, the wife of the would-be presidential assassin Samuel J. Bicke (Penn).^[45] The same year, she also teamed up with Jude Law and Dustin Hoffman in David O. Russell's ensemble comedy I Heart Huckabees.^[46]

2005–2008[link]

Watts at the London premiere of Eastern Promises in 2007

In 2005, Watts starred and co-produced with director/screenwriter Scott Coffey her next film, the semi-autobiographical drama Ellie Parker, which depicted the struggle of an Australian actress in Hollywood.^[47] Movie critic Roger Ebert praised Watts' performance: "The character is played by Watts with courage, fearless observation, and a gift for timing that is so uncanny it can make points all by itself."^[48]

Watts returned in the lead role in the sequel to the Ring, The Ring Two. The film received several negative reviews,^[49] but was a major success at the box office, with a over US$161 million worldwide gross (equivalent to US$191.6 million in 2012) and was once again praised for her performance.^[50] She starred in the 2005 remake of King Kong as Ann Darrow. The role, portrayed by Fay Wray in the original film, proved to be Watts' most commercially successful film yet. Helmed by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, the film won high praise and grossed US$550 million worldwide (equivalent to US$654.5 million in 2012).^[51][52] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised her performance: "The third act becomes a star-crossed, "Beauty and the Beast" parable far more operatic and tragic than anything the original filmmakers could have imagined exquisitely pantomimed by Watts with a poignancy and passion that rates Oscar consideration."^[53]

About the evolution of her portrayals, Watts stated: "You'd better know why you're here as an actor ... I'm here to work out my shit, what my problems are and know who I am, so by cracking open these characters perhaps that shines a light on it a little bit better ... I know myself. I mean, of course I know myself better but the journey and search continue because hopefully we're evolving and growing all the time.^[54]

Watts starred in the 2006 remake of the 1934 film The Painted Veil with Edward Norton and Liev Schreiber. Watts played in the film Kitty Garstin, the daughter of a prominent scientist, that marries Walter Fane (Norton) for his reputation as a physician and bacteriologist. The movie centers in the relationship of the couple at the time they move to China, were Fane is stationed to study infectious diseases.^[55] Comparing her portrayal with Greta Garbo's in the original movie, The San Francisco Chronicle wrote "Watts makes the role work on her own terms — her Kitty is more desperate, more foolish, more miserable and more driven ... and her spiritual journey is greater.^[56]

Also that year, she provided the voice of a small role, Suzie Rabbit, in the psychological thriller film Inland Empire.^[57] The following year, she appeared in David Cronenberg's crime thriller Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen. The film was released to critical acclaim for the film itself and for her performance.^[58] A moderate box office success, it grossed US$56 million worldwide (equivalent to US$66.6 million in 2012).^[59] Critic Matthew Turner of View London wrote that Watts "strikes an intriguing balance between strength and emotional vulnerability."^[58]

In 2008, she appeared in Funny Games, a 2008 remake of the 1997 Austrian film by director Michael Haneke, alongside Tim Roth. In the film, she portrayed Ann Farber, who with her husband and son are held hostage by a pair of sociopathic teenagers. The film opened on 20 October 2007 at the London Film Festival.^[60]

2009–present[link]

Watts at the 2011 Deauville American Film Festival

In 2009, Watts starred alongside Clive Owen the political thriller The International. She played a Manhattan assistant district attorney who partners with the titular agent to take down a bank.^[61] 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."^[62] The International was well received by critics,^[63] and grossed over US$60 million (equivalent to $65 million in 2012). worldwide.^[64]

She next appeared in the American drama Mother and Child, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.^[65] She portrayed the role of Elizabeth, a lawyer who never knew her biological mother. Watts co-starred the movie along with Annette Bening, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson.^[66] 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."^[67] She was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at the Australian Film Institute Awards.^[68] Watts was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Supporting Female.^[69]

Her next movie, the Woody Allen comedy You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, opened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2010.^[70] 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^[71] and grossed over US$26 (equivalent to $27.7 million in 2012).^[72]

She starred 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.^[73] Based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, also marks the third pairing of Watts with Sean Penn after 21 Grams and The Assassination of Richard Nixon.^[74] Watts was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Actress for her performance in Fair Game.^[75] Boxoffice magazine wrote: "Watts doesn't get the big emotional scenes that have characterized 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."^[76]

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.^[77] 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.^[78] In early 2011, Watts was cast in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role. Watts will play Edgar's secretary Helen Gandy.^[79] Watts is also scheduled to star in the remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). Due to her frequent portrayals in film revivals, the press has labelled her the "queen of remakes".^[80] Watts has stated that there have only been "discussions" about the remake.^[81]

Personal life[link]

Watts with her partner Liev Schreiber in 2012.

Her father's manic laugh can be heard in Pink Floyd's "Speak to Me" and "Brain Damage" from The Dark Side of the Moon.^[82] Watts is pictured in her mother's arms with her father, brother, the band, and other crew members, in the hardback/softcover edition of drummer Nick Mason's autobiography of the band Inside Out.^[83]

Watts was in a relationship with director Stephen Hopkins^[82] in the 1990s and actor Heath Ledger^[84] from August 2002 to May 2004. Since the spring of 2005, Watts' has been in a relationship with the actor Liev Schreiber. She confirmed in an interview in late January 2009 that Schreiber had in fact given her a ring (which she was not wearing at the time) but that neither of them wanted to rush into marriage.^[85] Schreiber, known to play tricks on the media, had once before called her his wife in 2007, but later revealed that it was a joke.^[86] The couple's first son, Alexander "Sasha" Pete, was born on 25 July 2007 in Los Angeles, and their second son, Samuel "Sammy" Kai, on 13 December 2008 in New York City.^[87] After a temporary hiatus from acting, she returned to work with The International, her first project since becoming a mother.^[88] Watts stated in April 2010 that she would have a third child if she could guarantee a baby girl.^[89]

She considered converting to Buddhism after having gained interest for that religion during the shooting of The Painted Veil. She said of her religious beliefs, "I have some belief but I am not a strict Buddhist or anything yet".^[90] She practices the Transcendental Meditation technique.^[91] In 2002, she was featured in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.^[92]

Charity work[link]

In 2006, Watts became a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, it helps to raise awareness of AIDS issues. She has used her high profile and celebrity to call attention to the needs of people living with this disease.^[93] Watts participated in events and activities, including the 21st Annual AIDS Walk.^[94] She is presented as an inaugural member of AIDS Red Ribbon Awards. She has participated in campaigns for fundraising. On 1 December 2009, Watts was meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and joined the AIDS response at a dramatic public event commemorating World AIDS Day 2009.^[95] During the event, she said: "It has been both unfortunate and unfair for HIV infection to be considered a shameful disease, for people living with HIV to be judged as blameworthy, and for AIDS to be equated with certain death. I have personally seen that dignity and hope have been strongest among those whose lives were changed by HIV."^[96]

In 2011, she attended to a charity polo match in New York City along with Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Isla Fisher, which was intended to raise money to help victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.^[97]

Filmography[link]