Naomi Watts’ Friendship With Bill Murray Is “A Very Powerful Thing”

When Naomi Watts and Bill Murray worked together on the film St. Vincent in 2014, she had no idea how close they would become. Naomi is 55, and Bill is 73. Despite their nearly 20-year age gap, they’ve formed a powerful bond. The two are promoting their new film, The Friend, and Naomi joked to People she initially thought she was cast because the filmmakers hoped they’d get Bill involved.

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“They mentioned his name, and at first I was like, ‘Oh, god, that’s why they called me. Because they want to get to Bill,'” she recalled “Because people know that I know him, and we’ve worked together. . . But when they said that, it just was an aha moment and I couldn’t see it any other way. I was determined, so I made the call.”

Naomi told People she loved the film’s premise because it was similar to the kind of relationship she and Bill have.

“I love that this story centers around friendships. Because not many stories do. If it’s a relationship movie, it’s often romance or family dynamics,” Naomi said. “And friendship is something that’s a very powerful thing. As you get older, it becomes more and more meaningful. So yeah, it makes sense. And I have that kind of friendship with Bill, too.”

In the film, Naomi’s character is tasked with caring for Bill’s character’s dog after his sudden death. She told People she loved dogs and that working with Bing, the Great Dane, was a dream come true.

“He came with Bev Klingensmith, who is his owner and breeder. And she’s highly, highly trained and also an animal trainer for the movies and TV and also Broadway,” she said. “So you can imagine the precision that he has to work with. Because Great Danes, they’re big. They get tired. . . But they searched the country far and wide and finally found Bing in Iowa.”

The Friend recently made its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival.

This story’s featured image is by Cindy Ord/Getty Images.