Naomi Watts admits she’s still ‘sorting out’ her emotional struggles at age 52 – after losing her father to a heroin overdose when she was just seven
Naomi Watts has recalled the agony of losing her father Peter following his death from a heroin overdose when she was just seven years old.
Speaking to Vogue Australia this month, the 52-year-old confessed that she’s still ‘grappling’ with the tragic loss decades later.
‘Having grown up losing my dad at a very early age, I think that’s a story I know well; it’s still sorting itself out at the ripe age of 52,’ the two-time Academy Award nominee said.
‘You lose part of yourself’: Naomi Watts (pictured) has admitted she’s still ‘sorting out’ her emotional struggles at age 52 – after losing her father to a heroin overdose when she was just seven
‘Through that, you lose a part of yourself … you feel like you’re not fully formed in a way,’ she added.
The mother-of-two explained that she often draws on her own psychological battles in her work as an actress and film producer.
The star also admitted that she’s sometimes ’embarrassed’ by how emotional she gets when Peter is brought up in conversation.
Open wound: Speaking to Vogue Australia this month, Naomi confessed that she’s still ‘grappling’ with the tragic loss of her father, four decades later
Memories: Peter Watts died from a drug overdose in August 1976. Pictured with Naomi’s mother Miv
Peter, a sound engineer and road manager for Pink Floyd, was found dead in his West London flat, after overdosing on heroin.
He left behind his daughter Naomi, her brother Ben, and their mother Myfanway (‘Miv’).
Byron Bay-based Miv previously spoke about the devastating loss to Daily Mail Australia, recalling: ‘It left scars. It was a shock.’
Back in the day: A young Naomi would later go on to become one of the biggest star’s in Hollywood
‘His death made Naomi incredibly determined’: Byron Bay-based Miv previously spoke about the devastating loss to Daily Mail Australia, explaining that it helped Naomi play certain film roles
‘His death made Naomi incredibly determined. It had a profound effect on her, as it did on the entire family,’ she said.
Miv explained that the family tragedy has helped Naomi with her film roles, in particular the 2003 American drama, 21 Grams, in which Naomi plays a woman who loses her husband and both her daughters in a horrific hit-and-run.
‘With Naomi, it’s been an enormous help for her, films like 21 Grams…that emotion is buried in there, she uses it, she can work with that,’ Miv explained.
‘It’s a terrible thing to happen to anyone, especially at that age when she needed her dad. We had no inkling he was using heroin at all.’
Read more: Naomi’s full interview appears in the latest issue of Vogue Australia