Career Highlights
1982: Starts acting upon her arrival in Australia. Bonds with Nicole Kidman at an audition for a bikini commercial - neither one gets the part.
1986: After dropping out of high school, she lands her first acting role in the Sam Neill vehicle For Love Again.
1991: Following a four-month modelling gig in Japan and a stint as an assistant fashion editor, an audition call leads to a starring role alogside Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton in the sleeper-hit Flirting.
1992: Moves to the U.S. and appears in her first Hollywood feature Matinee, as a "shopping cart starlet."
1995: Plays Jet Girl in the film adaptation of comic-book Tank Girl - the box-office bust proves to be a cult hit. The following years are spent in TV and B-movie productions.
2001: Watts's lead role in the TV-pilot-turned-full-lenght-feature Mulholland Drive garners multiple awards. Producers and stars in the short film Ellie Parker, about an Australian actress trying to make it big in Hollywood. Her romance with Heath Ledger, 10 years her junior is front-page fodder.
2002: Snags the starring role in The Ring after Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale decline. The "longest-reigning new discovery" is named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful.
2003: Nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role in 21 Grams.
2005: Following in the footsteps of scream queen Fay Wray, Watts's wail cracks a window from floor to ceiling while filming King Kong.
2006: Appointed special representative for the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. Will follow the release of The Painted Veil with Funny Games and Eastern Promises in 2007.
