The folks from the King Kong Official Magazine sent along these scans from the magazine, in stores now, and 3 articles. Here is one with an interview with Naomi Watts.
Beauty and the Beast - Naomi Watts
It takes a special actress to follow the legendary screen queen – but NAOMI WATTS has been widely recognised as an inspired choice to play Ann Darrow. KING KONG MAGAZINE finds out why she’s thrilled to be sharing the screen with a legendary primate…
Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong casts Watts as Ann Darrow, a struggling actress who finds her life forever changed by a trip to Skull Island and an encounter with its most famous inhabitant. Although the role represents a major departure from the independent dramas that she is widely associated with, Watts reports that she was keen to join Jackson in a new world of blockbusting filmmaking.
“What drew me to King Kong was that it was an event film, the type of which I had never done before,” she explains. “King Kong also provided an opportunity to work with Peter Jackson. That was another big draw. The Lord of the Rings [movies] were just such accomplished pieces of filmmaking and Peter clearly has an extraordinary mind.
“But on top of that, I knew it would be really fun,” adds Watts with a radiant smile. “There are good chases, there’s great humor, there’s action, there’s romance, there’s song and dance – there’s just so much to this role!”
Following their first encounter, Ann and Kong develop a special bond that drives the rest of the movie. Watts thoroughly enjoyed exploring Ann’s feelings toward Kong.
“Ann and Kong’s relationship is really a connection between two souls,” says Watts. “Ann develops a love for this all-encompassing creature, who is very scary at times and can be aggressive, predatory and jealous, but is also incredibly protective. He’s like every man in many ways!”
Ann’s other primary relationship in the movie is the one she shares with her romantic interest, Jack Driscoll. “I kind of have two different love stories in the movie,” notes Watts. “The film compares the romantic love between Ann and Jack with the protective love and companionship shared between Ann and Kong.”
As the computer-generated Kong was only added to the film in post-production, Watts was required to shoot all of Ann’s scenes with Kong in his absence, and only had Kong’s live-action template, Andy Serkis, to interact with.
“One of the biggest concerns I had about doing this picture was the challenge of creating a love story without one half of it being there,” reveals Watts. “But they made the great choice of hiring Andy Serkis to play Kong on set. To have a pair of eyes and a soul behind Kong helped me get rid of my fears and create a real connection between the characters. That was very interesting.”
With the release of King Kong, Naomi Watts looks set to consolidate her position as one of the world’s most successful leading ladies. But for Watts herself, the most important aspect was the opportunity to be a part of a quality film that looks destined to touch cinemagoers of all ages around the world.
“This film is going to appeal to so many different people,” she declares. “It’s got action. It’s got horror. It’s got mystery. It’s got two love stories. It’s got car chases. I always felt that this movie was going to be extraordinary, because Peter Jackson is so passionately connected to it that he was always going to ensure that he and everyone involved with it delivered their very best.”
Read the complete interview and much more in KING KONG THE OFFICIAL MOVIE MAGAZINE, in stores December 14th.