Naomi Watts reflects on ‘Mulholland Drive’ TIFF debut as 9/11 shook the world

TORONTO — Walking the Toronto International Film Festival red carpet Thursday evening, Naomi Watts remembered being at the event 25 years ago when her life — and the world — turned upside down.

Watts visited in 2001 to promote “Mulholland Drive,” David Lynch’s film about an aspiring actress who befriends a car crash victim with amnesia.

Her turn as Betty Elms wound up being her breakout role at a pivotal time in her career.

“I had packed my bags emotionally and physically so many times and wanted to cut and run because it was just all too painful. The constant rejection, like, no, this is not going to work for you. It’s hard to not take it to heart,” Watts said ahead of the premiere of her latest film, “The Housewife.”

But the avant-garde filmmaker behind “Eraserhead” and “Twin Peaks” took a chance on her with “Mulholland Drive,” and the neo-noir mystery got a glowing reception at TIFF. Watts said it all felt like an out-of-body experience.

But the bliss didn’t last long.

A few days after its TIFF screening, the festival ground to a halt when planes struck the Twin Towers in New York, while Watts was doing interviews about the film.

“We didn’t understand it and then, we took a break, and then, it was very clear what was going on and it was terrifying, so heartbreaking, so sad,” she recalled.

“Then, we all came together and held each other and those feelings are still very much with me like it was yesterday.”

The experience reinforced a message that she thinks is still true today: “We need escapism when times are tough.”

“The Housewife” is a historical drama based on a true story that focuses on a couple played by Watts and Luke Evans. Their lives are upended when a New York Times journalists starts investigating a tip that Evans’ character is a Nazi in hiding.

For Montreal-born director Ben Shirinian, it felt “surreal” to be debuting the film in the country he was raised in.

Antisemitism is central to the film, and Shirinian said he wanted to explore the psychology of hate and how that feeling can become normalized and change humanity.

It’s a topic he thinks is timely.

“We’re living in a grossly polarized world right now. We’re seeing an upsurge in profound hatred of all kinds, including antisemitism and other forms of hatred, so it was important to tell the story today,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2026.