Naomi Watts

There's so much focus on celebrity these days; we're in the Kardashian era, and it's slightly scary.

Of course, I want to look the best I can, but I am playing characters that should match my age, and the women and the material that I am interested in are usually going through something. I have to be able to live in my face and tell the story of the character I've taken on.

Personally I feel, for me, it's tough to do Botox - but it's also tough not to! Sometimes, I think I need the help. Whatever anyone else chooses is fine with me - no judgment.

I think it's good to explore it. I don't feel bad about that... I mean, I think everyone has a sense of - has a dark side, has a - carries some sort of pain with them. And I find it fun to crack it open and go there.

There must be a thread in everything I choose to take on, and I can't say it's a calculated thread, but I think you end up doing the work that's resonating with you.

When I was about 14, my family emigrated from England to Australia, and we decided to stop in Bali on the way through.

Women in their 40s have gone through quite a few different things, and so the roles are going to reflect that. People say, 'Oh, it's done by 40,' and now everyone knows it's not. I actually feel like the roles are a lot more interesting.

I actually have a fear of the water because I nearly drowned. I got caught in a rip tide, and I wasn't a good swimmer because that was when I was emigrating from England to Australia.

Now that I have kids, I don't want to do so many daredevily things anymore.

As you get older, you overthink and can talk yourself out of anything. It's good to be a bit reckless and experimental.

Maybe in the workplace I have more courage than other areas in my life.

The use of violence in movies is a subject that's worth addressing. I'm not standing on a soapbox or wagging a finger, but I'm interested in those subjects for sure.

There are no tricks to balancing work and family. It is a struggle all the time, and you just do your best. I think men are much better at compartmentalising.

Parisian women have an inner elegance that's envied the world over. They are so relaxed about ageing and seem to acquire more charisma and beauty with time. Who wouldn't want to be like them? That's the trick - to embrace the natural progression of life and to be confident.

I'm not sure why I still think of myself as 28 - maybe that's the point where you start growing up, and then you just feel the same for evermore.

Whatever is said about roles drying up, I intend to keep working. Certainly now the roles couldn't be more interesting - playing mothers, divorcees. I think it's going to be exciting to play a mother of teenagers. The longer your life, the deeper it gets.

We're so afraid of death in our culture, but I think if we understand it better, then we'll appreciate the life we have more.

The biggest place I look for validation is from my mother. That's the little girl in me that will never grow up.

That's one of the lucky things about getting the success later on. I know how I want to dress, I know what kind of house I want to live in, I just know more about myself, and that's true about the roles I want to play and what parts of myself I want to express. You're just more in touch with yourself.

I had gotten to a place where I truly believed everything I was called: 'not sexy,' 'not funny,' 'too intense,' desperate.' All those labels they gave me, I took them because there wasn't a trace of my true self left.