Naomi Watts toughens up for 'Fair Game'

Minutes after Naomi Watts,  movie star, arrived at the CIA’s secret Virginia training center called The Farm, she was thrown to the ground in a way that left bruises.

When she cried out in pain, her instructor glared and informed her, “Don’t say 'ow’ again unless you need to go to the hospital.”

During the days that followed, she was “stripped of everything that cloaked her in specialness,” said director Doug Liman.

The actress chose the rough treatment, Liman said.

He chose Watts to play Valerie Plame Wilson, the spy who was outed in  one of the most controversial episodes of the Bush era. Plame’s husband, Joe Wilson, wrote a New York Times opinion piece critical of the war in Iraq. Plame’s identity was revealed shortly after, prompting accusations of retaliation.

Watts, 42, blonde and blue-eyed, looks perfect to play the beautiful real-life spy, 47, in “Fair Game.” But after filming test scenes with Sean Penn, who was cast as Wilson, the director panicked. He thought Watts was too soft.

Watts, who was born in England but grew up in Australia, had no problem with other aspects of approaching the role, including the American accent. Attitude was another thing.

Watts and her partner, actor Liev Schreiber, live in New York City and are the parents of two small children. As a movie star, she’s been pampered.

A paramilitary camp run by government contractors in Virginia was the answer. Both the director and the actress say it worked.

“This role came about rather quickly,” Watts said during a recent interview at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York. “I was at home breast-feeding my new baby and in no mood to make any movie when I read it. I wanted to do it, but there was so little time. I knew Valerie’s story – a story of betrayal. The whole world knows it, but it was told in the media in a very fragmented way. I had so many facts to learn and then forget all the facts and get the character – how she dealt with betrayal. She knew going into her job as a covert agent that there was a risk of being exposed by another government. But to have it done to you by your own government? For most of us, it would’ve been easy to either avoid the fight altogether or come undone. Valerie did neither.”

Plame graduated at the top of her class in CIA training. She worked as a “nonofficial cover,” a status that meant no diplomatic protection if captured. Shortly after 9/11, she became chief of operations for the Iraqi branch of the Counterproliferation Division, collecting data on Iraq.

Her husband had diplomatic experience in Niger, and the CIA asked him to investigate reports that the country was selling uranium to Iraq. He found no evidence of a uranium sale. He became alarmed when President George W. Bush cited such a sale during a State of the Union address. Subsequently, Wilson wrote a 2003 New York Times opinion piece emphasizing that he had found no evidence of uranium sales, under the headline “What I Didn’t Find in Africa.”

After that, syndicated columnist Robert Novak wrote a piece naming Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA agent. The revelation placed Plame and her foreign contacts in danger. Novak cited “two administration officials” as the source for the story.

A criminal investigation into the leak led to the conviction of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s top aide (played by David Andrews in the movie). The charges were perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI. Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence.

“Everyone in America is familiar with this story, so the pressure is great,” Watts said. Plame “was frequently on the set as our BS barometer for CIA affairs. Because of the level of betrayal and injustice, I felt it was important to serve her story in the best possible way.”

The actress and the former spy had trouble meeting. Watts recalled, “We talked on the telephone many times. Finally, she agreed to meet me halfway – at the Chicago airport. I thought, 'Who meets at airports?’ She laughs, 'Well, spies do, of course.’”

Watts struggled to decipher Plame. “You don’t get her all at once. She’s not easy to read. Nothing ever breaks her. She’s not a victim or a martyr. She’s not driven by emotion. She’s very controlled and reserved.”

Both Watts and Schreiber were playing spies at the same time. He was working in “Salt” with Angelina Jolie while Watts was making “Fair Game.” “The pictures couldn’t be more different,” she said, “but there were times when we shared our research, comparing notes or watching CIA documentaries together.”

She saw her visit to The Farm as part of her job.

“Some actors learn a new language for a part. Some learn knitting. Some ride in cars with cops,” Watts said. “Valerie was much more intense and distant than me. I had to know where that came from. It was worth it, I think.”

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com