Naomi Watts Believes Standards Have Changed for Older Women in the Industry: ‘Look at the Emmys Last Week… That’s Heartening to See’

The ‘Mulholland Drive’ star is at the San Sebastián Film Festival to screen Ben Shirinian’s ‘The Housewife,’ as well as to receive this year’s Donostia Award

By Rafa Sales Ross

Rafa Sales Ross

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British actor Naomi Watts, at the San Sebastián Film Festival to receive this year’s prestigious Donostia Award, spoke about opportunities in the industry for women over 50. Talking a week after Sarah Paulson told Variety about the lack of film offers following her spellbinding portrait of Marcia Clark in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” Watts said, “things have changed.”

Watts recalled entering the industry late “by Hollywood standards,” starring in David Lynch’s lauded “Mulholland Drive” at 31 years old. “I was told at the beginning that I better get my skates on because it all finishes at the age of 40. And here we are today. I’m in my late 50s. Look at the Emmys last week [and] the number of women in strong categories over 50. That’s heartening to see.”

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