Naomi Watts is “absolutely terrified” about playing Diana, Princess Of Wales in a new movie and she even considered turning down the job.
The actress, who grew up in Australia, has been cast in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s upcoming drama Caught In Flight, which will tell the story of the last two years of the late royal’s life before she died in a car crash in Paris, France in 1997. However, Watts admits she had reservations about taking on such a high-profile part and nearly refused the offer because of her fears. The King Kong star tells the Press Association, “She is a part of our history, an incredible woman and fascinating but (suffered) a tragic ending. The filmmakers came to me and it’s a good script and it’s very scary and I kind of wanted to say no but I couldn’t... “I saw the wedding (Diana’s 1981 wedding to Charles, Prince of Wales) and everything and she is a very inspiring woman and it’s kind of impressive how she sort of changed the whole gearing of the tradition of the royal family and opened it up and brought warmth to it.”
Watts is now throwing herself into researching the role for the film, which is due to begin shooting later this year. She adds, “I’m doing all the research and there is so much to read, I just hope we make a good film and people can learn something new about her that’s interesting. There are a lot of people that knew her and a lot of books to read and so much information and one story is different to the next so it’s hard to gauge what was the truth. It’s going to be a tough one, it’s a big beast to take on, I just try to do my best.”                 –WO