"Kong" cast and crew talks to MSN, part one

 "Kong" cast and crew talks to MSN, part two

Naomi Watts has just sat down to talk about her career-defining role in Peter Jackson's epic "King Kong." Her character, Ann Darrow, is an iconic role that haunted actress Fay Wray, the original Ann, for most of Wray's life. This new "Kong" was a mammoth undertaking, with a majority of Watts' scenes being filmed against green screen with an un-costumed Andy Serkis standing in for the 25-foot-tall ape. It has clearly been the hardest role of Watts' career. What could she be thinking when she's initially asked: "Have you ever fallen in love with a big, dumb ape yourself?"

Watts pauses, puts on her gorgeous smile and says meekly, "Yes."

The press laughs and then she shrieks, "I'm just kidding! No, but there are so many things about that big, dumb ape that [are] the same as any man. They get jealous, they get full of rage, they get protective, they get dark and then they get compassionate and caring and humorous."

That interpretation of Kong is radically different from the wild monster portrayed in the original 1933 version, or the strange, sexually suggestive interplay in the 1976 remake that starred Jessica Lange. According to Watts, both Kong and Ann relate to each other as two lonely beings with a relationship that she says is "more pure, caring and paternal."

"It's not her beauty [he eventually sees]," Watts says, "It's her heart and their connection and his ability to love, which he probably never knew he had."

According to Jackson, Watts was his "first and only choice" for the role.

"I think we responded to her because she's so honest as an actor," Jackson says. "She's one of those actors that if she's shedding tears in a scene, it's because she's thinking of something that makes her cry. She's really in the moment and I don't know how she does [it], but she's utterly believable."

Watts wasn't so sure. She had seen the '76 version and respected Jackson as a filmmaker, but playing a cinematic icon is a lot to live up to.

"How do you survive those comparisons that are naturally going to be drawn?" Watts says. "But I thought, 'Well, I have done quite a bit of work beforehand. Maybe it won't be just this one role that people will think of me as.'"

Considering the critical acclaim her performance is getting, Watts has little to fear after playing Kong's "queen." If anything, her reign may have just begun.