Her name doesn't appear in the main cast of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" - but Naomi Watts (57) can still be heard. As the trade magazine "Variety" reports, the Oscar-nominated actress lends her voice to the Artificial Intelligence at Peter Parker's side in the superhero film. The fact that Watts is even part of the film only became known after the theatrical release.
On Instagram, Watts posted a photo from the recording studio, apparently showing her recording her dialogue. On a screen in the background, director Destin Daniel Cretton (47) can be seen in good spirits. The actress wrote with a wink: "From your mother to your AI (one hundred percent handmade by humans)."
At the same time, she congratulated Tom Holland (30), Destin Daniel Cretton and the entire team on the film's historic opening weekend. She was incredibly proud to be "even just a tiny part of this great film", Watts wrote.
First the Film Mother, Then the AI
With the reference to the mother role, Watts is alluding to "The Impossible" from 2012. In the drama, she portrayed the mother of Tom Holland's character. The film tells the story of a family torn apart by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Watts was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress for her performance, and for Holland it was his breakthrough and his debut in a live-action film.
Three years later, Tom Holland landed the role of Peter Parker. According to "Variety", the British actor recently talked about how formative working with Naomi Watts was for him on Amy Poehler's podcast "Good Hang", which he visited as part of the press tour for "The Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day". Watts was one of the first people to explain to him how to behave on a film set. At the same time, he was able to watch an actress "at the peak of her abilities" at work. She took him under her wing and taught him much of what he knows today about filmmaking.
Not the Only Reunion
For Watts, the Marvel film is not only a reunion with Holland. Director Cretton and Sadie Sink also worked with her before: In 2017, they filmed Cretton's drama "The Glass Castle", which also featured Brie Larson, who later also ended up in the Marvel universe.
"Brand New Day" earned $360 million in North America during its opening weekend, surpassing the previous record held by "Avengers: Endgame". Worldwide, the film crossed the one billion dollar mark after six days, according to "Variety". Only one other theatrical film has achieved this faster. "Avengers: Endgame" earned one billion dollars in just five days in 2019.
