\n<\/p>\n
Naomi Watts remembers being told that by the time she turned 40, her acting career would be finished.<\/p>\n
Now 56, she is fresh off a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as Babe Paley in \u201cFeud: Capote vs. the Swans.\u201d In March, she\u2019ll star in the movie \u201cThe Friend,\u201d based on the National Book Award-winning novel<\/a> by Sigrid Nunez. And her first book, \u201cDare I Say It,\u201d out Tuesday, delves into her experience being told at 36 that she was going into early menopause, and navigating that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was shocking to me that half the population was told to zip it through an inevitable time of life,\u201d Watts said of the stigma and silence surrounding perimenopause and menopause. She eventually threw herself into the conversation \u201clock, stock and barrel,\u201d explaining, \u201cI got sick of holding the secret, which I did for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n In a video call from Los Angeles, during that brief moment between the glamour of the Golden Globes and the devastation of the fires, Watts spoke about her love of pickleball, her admiration for David Bowie, and her conviction that peppermint tea and milk do not <\/em>mix.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n These are edited excerpts from the conversation.<\/p>\n I\u2019m obsessed with pickleball. Everyone seems to think that if you say you love pickleball you\u2019re really leaning into the old age thing, but I\u2019ve seen people in their 20s in New York getting fired up about it.<\/p>\n Over the Christmas break I played a ton of cards and Bananagrams. I also play this game called Snatch, which is like an aggressive version of Bananagrams. I get pretty competitive, but only when I\u2019m playing games. I think that\u2019s from having a big brother and competing to win. I\u2019m also on a Wordle chain, and whoever wins the day before gets to choose the word. I do that every single day and I\u2019ve only missed a few here and there since we started. My stats are very impressive.<\/p>\n I just watched this Jacques Audiard film and loved it. It\u2019s so innovative and wild, with so many ideas and visuals going on at once. I\u2019d seen his older film \u201cRust and Bone\u201d with Marion Cotillard, which I also loved. All of the actors in \u201cEmilia P\u00e9rez\u201d are just fantastic, and Zoe Salda\u00f1a<\/a> got recognized at the Globes the other night. It\u2019s just a fantastic piece of filmmaking.<\/p>\n I drink it all day. I love builder\u2019s tea, strong black tea like PG Tips. It\u2019s got to be made right, though. I have to educate the Americans about how to make it. It has to be drunk with milk. When you order tea in a restaurant or on a plane and they bring you the hot water and the bag together, it\u2019s all wrong. It\u2019s not going to work. You pour the hot water over the bag. Then sometimes when you order tea with milk, they get confused and they bring you a peppermint tea with milk, and I\u2019m like, This is poison!<\/p>\n I love everything about Paris. I love its romance, I love the walking, I love the restaurants. I like to stay at a place called Le Pavillon de la Reine. It\u2019s a boutique hotel with a fireplace, so it\u2019s lovely in winter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n One of my favorite things is to eat at home with friends and have a great meal and great conversation. I tend to do roasts, so a lot of roast chicken and veggies. My mom is a good cook, so I learned a lot from her. She\u2019s not a recipe person, she\u2019s a trial-and-error person \u2014 you have to be practiced at that. I didn\u2019t learn to become a good cook until I had kids.<\/p>\n I have horribly cracked feet in these dry winter months so I use lots of Eucerin Intensive Repair lotion to moisturize my skin. I put lotion on at night before bed, and it really helps.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve had dogs all my life, and I don\u2019t understand people that don\u2019t love dogs. I barely understand cat people, and I always root for dogs. I like cats; I\u2019m just allergic to them. If you have a cat, though, you better have a dog, too, because at least they\u2019re nice to you.<\/p>\nPickleball<\/span><\/h3>\n
Games<\/span><\/h3>\n
\u2018Emilia P\u00e9rez\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\n
Properly Brewed Tea<\/span><\/h3>\n
Le Pavillon de la Reine<\/span><\/h3>\n
Cooking<\/span><\/h3>\n
Staying Moisturized<\/span><\/h3>\n
Dogs<\/span><\/h3>\n
Representative Sarah McBride<\/span><\/h3>\n