Why Jemma Wells From Boss Level Looks So Familiar
Hulu's sci-fi action thriller Boss Level, which released on March 5, 2021, features a lot of explosions, guns, and a slight similarity to the movie Groundhog Day. So, how does an action-packed movie fall in line with a film starring Bill Murray? Bear with us.
The story centers around a man named Roy Pulver (Frank Grillo), a retired special forces soldier who cannot break out of reliving the same day over and over again. Boss Level also stars Michelle Yeoh, Mel Gibson, and Naomi Watts as Jemma Wells, Pulver's significant other at one point in time. Wells and Pulver have a son together, which also drives Pulver to find answers.
Viewers of Boss Level (one of the year's best science fiction films) will probably recognize Naomi Watts, an English actress who has starred in a number of notable movies over the last couple of decades. Let's find out a little bit about the actress and other roles you might remember her from.
Naomi's Watts's role in Mulholland Drive put her on the A-list map
Even though Watts had been acting since in the 1980s and 1990s, she received her big break in 2001 as Betty/Diane Selwyn in Mulholland Drive. The movie centers on two women: Betty (Watts), an innocent Midwesterner who moves in with her Aunt Ruth (Maya Bond), hoping to make it big in Hollywood; and Rita/Camilla Rhodes (Laura Harring), a mysterious woman who is left with amnesia after a car crash. After Rita (Laura Elena Harring) stumbles into Aunt Ruth's apartment, Betty joins Rita in uncovering her true identity and other mysteries surrounding the dream-like city of Los Angeles. Watts's portrayal of Betty is electric and extremely authentic, even though she didn't have a lot of experience at the time.
The Mulholland Drive cast also includes The Leftovers' Justin Theroux and Lost's Mark Pellegrino, who delivered in their roles and received high praise as a result. Since 2001, the movie has received thousands of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which are mostly positive. As Allen Almachar from The MacGuffin put it, "Delving into Mulholland Drive can be like falling into a rabbit hole. Yet it's a journey that has kept me fascinated, perplexed, and enthralled with every visit."
The Ring helped further cement Watts' status
In 2002, Watts was cast in The Ring as a journalist named Rachel Keller, who investigates the mysterious death of her niece, Katie Embry (Amber Tamblyn). She comes to terms with the fact that a cursed videotape has something to do with it, which leads Keller to retrace Embry's last steps before her death, unaware of what she'll discover. The Ring is quite scary — Sam Adams of Philadelphia City Paper called it "easily the most terrifying movie to come out of Hollywood in years." After its release and even years later, it probably made viewers think twice before popping in an old VHS tape.
On that note, The Ring seemingly surpassed the common expectations of what a quality remake should be and earned a whopping 71% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics. Watts also did a great job of taking on this role in a horror classic and making it believable at the same time. Watts went on to star in the sequel, The Ring Two, in 2005, which didn't receive as much love as the first one did. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it was kind of a dud, but Watts, as well as the rest of the cast, will always have The Ring.
Peter Jackson's King Kong put Watts front and center as the heroine
Fast-forward to 2005, and the legendary Sir Peter Jackson cast Watts as Anna Darrow, the original movie's protagonist (and one previously played by icons such as Jessica Lange and Fay Wray). In the 2005 adaptation, Darrow has the unfortunate role of Carl Denham's (Jack Black) leading lady in his movie, which he decides to shoot on Skull Island.
Of course, Skull Island lives up to its name, and the main cast has no idea what awaits them there. Darrow is quickly captured by the people of the island and is presented to Kong himself. Fortunately for Darrow, he's not as violent as he looks.
King Kong is a thrilling ride. As Newsweek wrote, it's "a showy, state-of-the-art popcorn movie, faithful to the spirit of the 1933 original but generously adrenalized with the best effects money can buy." Aside from Watts and Black, the film also features Adrien Brody and Colin Hanks. But it's Watts' rendition of the heroine-in-distress that steals the spotlight, and really shows the depths she can go with her acting skills.
Watts played real-life tsunami survivor Maria in The Impossible
Based on the true story of María Belón and her family in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, The Impossible is about perseverance, family, and never giving up. This movie received a lot of positive attention for its production, but especially for Watts' incredible acting. In fact, she even scored herself an Oscar nomination for her role in it.
Watts plays a doctor named Maria Bennet, who has gone on a holiday vacation to Thailand with her husband Henry (Ewan McGregor), and their three sons Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin), and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast). On Boxing Day, a devastating tsunami destroys the area and splits the Bennett family apart into two groups. Lucas and Maria find each other, and on their journey to find the rest of the family, Maria deals with traumatizing wounds and hardships.
The experiences this mother-son duo goes through are hard to watch at times, but also show what this real-life family did to keep each other alive. From the suspenseful scenes to the acting, Watts portrayal of Maria Bennet may have made some viewers forget they were watching a movie.