aomi Watts is probably best known for her role as Rachel Keller in the horror films The Ring and The Ring Two, but what many people don't know is that she has also made a huge name for herself in the film world with such features as We Don't Live Here Anymore, 21 Grams and the movie that put her on the map, Mullholland Drive.

With King Kong Naomi had a big role to fill as she was stepping into the shoes once occupied by Fay Wray and while you may think there are several actresses out there that could have filled the role, Peter Jackson didn't think so.

"Naomi was our first and only choice for the role of Ann," Jackson said. "We responded to her because she's so honest as an actor, she doesn't pretend in the films that she does, she makes it as believable as possible. She's one of those actors if she is shedding tears in a scene it's because she is thinking of something that makes her cry, she's really in the moment. I don't know how she does that, but she's fully believable and for this particular role and this particular movie it was essential for us."

For Naomi her primary concern was Jackson's take on the Ann Darrow character. She didn't want to be the damsel in distress; she wanted some depth to her character.

"I went and met with [Peter] and his partner Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, their writing partner, and I heard them speak about [Kong], that it was the legendary King Kong but with a number of great new ideas and how they definitely wanted to change the female role into something much more than a screaming beauty," Watts said.

With that hurdle out of the way Naomi's battle with the knowledge that she would be taking on such an iconic role began and she asked herself, "'Oh this is such an iconic movie, and such an iconic part. How do you survive those comparisons that are naturally going to be drawn?'" She soon realized her resume is packed with worthy performances and she has a full future ahead of her, "I'll continue to do lots of other diverse work as well; this is just different for me. It was fun, it's an adventurous film with all kinds of other elements; love story, there's great humor… I haven't thought about it."

With the love element of Kong it is worth questioning just how Naomi got into that frame of mind as a bond was formed between Ann and Kong. One of the most talked about things from the 1976 King Kong remake are the sexual undertones throughout the film and Naomi assures us that had nothing to do with her performance.

"It's definitely not lust like the '70s version, it's more pure and caring and paternal. In the way that they sort of see each other and identify with each other that they are two lonely beings. I think they understand each other in a way, and they both struggled through desperate times"

Naomi was able to find her emotional center for her role thanks largely in part to Andy Serkis who not only provided the motion capture element for Kong, but also acted out Kong's parts on set for the other actors.

"I couldn't have done it without him," Naomi said. "It was as if he was another character. He didn't have any words, but he had a huge amount of expression, be it physical or emotional. I was just reacting to him the whole time in as truthful a way as possible. All the emotion, all the movement, how you see that ferocious face turn to a smile and a light in his eye, that is all Andy. That is what I was reacting to. It felt like a normal workspace for me."

When all is said and done this remake of King Kong is the passion project of Peter Jackson's, a film he most certainly did not take lightly. You have to wonder if there is any added pressure for an actor in that situation and if Naomi felt any pressure or if it was used as motivation.

"That was another thing that just got me going," she said. "When someone has that much passion for a project it's great, it's just wonderful to be part of the excitement. You know he has just loved it for all that time and he's so invested. From that initial meeting in London when they invited to me to dinner and he had the images and could talk so wonderfully about the characters, who Kong is and I thought, 'Yeah, I want to do this. I want to work with a man that has that much passion and vision.'"

King Kong opens in theaters everywhere on December 14, 2005.