And I’m like, ‘What?
What does that mean exactly?’
Then you think about it, and you go, ‘Oh, right.
Naomi Watts.Noam Galai/Getty Images for STRIPES
That just made me so mad."
Her latest goal: Breaking the taboos around menopause.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You startedgoing through perimenopauseearlier than your peers.
NAOMI WATTS:Yeah, I was really flailing around.
I certainly never heard the term perimenopause.
Anyhow, I got through the fertility scramble.
I felt a lot of secrecy and shame around that time.
I did feel very private about it.
I didn’t speak to too many people.
It just didn’t feel like the door was open at all.
I was having night sweats, so the sleeplessness and with two small babies was not an easy time.
Health and wellness have always been something I’m very drawn to.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was like, “I’ve gotta do something.”
Like, “It’s all downhill from here!”
[laughs] I wanted it to be fun.
The greeting cards in the Naomi Watts Menopause Collection are quite funny.
What was your role in the creation of the collection?
Well, the artist has been around for a while, and so we joined forces with her.
We thought it was a great way to get the community going.
Humor diffuses awkwardness and pain we know that to be true already.
And certainly, that was how I saw the vision of the brand.
It had to have humor.
Okay, so what’s the etiquette for sending a menopause greeting card?
Just say, “Well, soon you will!”
[Laughs] Half the population will be going through menopause [at some point].
We want to get it as normalized as we possibly can because we’re living longer.
We live decades after menopause, which is not the case of how it used to be.
It really has to become an open conversation.
Have you sent any cards out to any of your friends?
I sent a good handful.
They might be surprised, but it’s all in good fun.
Like, “Um, Naomi, are yousureyou want to become the spokesperson for menopause?”
I’ve definitely had my own little voices at times.
Like, oh my God, are you sure you want to do it?
Because once you do it, you might’t unring that bell.
What do you think Hollywood could do better when it comes to allowing women to age like human beings?
It’s such an awkward conversation because, from day one, we begin our aging process.
We don’t talk about a man aging hardly ever.
We don’t talk about his gray hair.
And why is he powerful?
Because he’s accumulated experiences.
Well, it should be the same for women.
We’ve got important and powerful experiences as well at this age that we should feel proud of.
Now it is, yeah.
I was having a terrible skin issue on a show [I was working on].
I just thought I was allergic to the makeup or something.
I kept changing products and removing things.
Luckily, she was the same age as me, so we could discuss it.
But if she was in her twenties or something, it might have made me uncomfortable.
It might have madeheruncomfortable.
So that was the biggest thing that affected me in the workplace.
Also, brain fog is a big thing.
Your new Netflix horror seriesThe Watcherlooks really freaking scary.
What are you most excited for people to see?
It’s got a fantastic cast and wall-to-wall great characters.
It’s based on a true story, and who doesn’t love a whodunnit?
Working withRyan Murphywas fantastic, so I was really glad to get in a room with him.
It’s a great cast and a great story.
Yes, the long-awaitedFeudseason 2!
You’re playing socialite Babe Paley.
Tell us about her.
She’s a magnificent woman.
Not a hair out of the place, not a word wrong.
Truman Capote said it himself: Her only flaw was how perfect she was.
It’s good and juicy.
We’ll start shooting in late fall.
And I can guarantee none of those ladies were speaking about menopause.
