Naomi Watts wouldn’t be a Hollywood star if it weren’t for David Lynch.

Naomi Watts nearly left the acting world before a pivotal meeting with the late director changed her trajectory, she revealed on Live With Kelly and Mark, via Entertainment Weekly. 

Cast as the lead in Lynch’s critically acclaimed 2001 film Mulholland Drive, Watts became a star after struggling through “10 years” of unsuccessful auditions. 

Lynch passed away on Jan. 15 at the age of 78.

“I wouldn’t have stayed [in Hollywood] had I not met David Lynch,” Watts shared.

“The chips were down, it was 10 years into flunking auditions [and] nothing was happening…I was literally alienating people. I was making them uncomfortable because I was so like, ‘I need a job! I need a job!’”

The situation became dire enough that Watts recalled her agent saying, “‘You’re too intense. You’re making people uncomfortable,’” adding, “Yeah, I need a job. I’m desperate, I need to work. I planned on going home multiple times.”

Watts described Lynch’s unique approach to casting “very different”. 

“Long story short, David Lynch called me in and has a very different way of casting,” she explained. 

“He sat me down and just looked me in the eyes and asked me questions, and most of the time I was like, ‘How do I get out of your way? How do I speed this up?’ [Because] I’m sure I’m not right, because I just had that programming: I’m not funny, I’m not sexy, I’m too old, I’m too this, too that. And he just saw me and was able to sort of lift these veneers.”

Their collaboration extended beyond Mulholland Drive, with Watts working on Lynch’s Rabbits and Twin Peaks: The Return, alongside other regular collaborators like Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern.