Naomi Watts pays tribute to David Lynch: 'He put me on the map'

Naomi Watts has paid tribute to film director David Lynch, telling how he made her career.

The legendary director died on Thursday, aged 78. He had emphysema.

Naomi, 56, starred in the 2002 movie Mulholland Drive, which was directed by Lynch.

"My heart is broken. My Buddy Dave... The world will not be the same without him," she wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her kissing the director's cheek. "His creative mentorship was truly powerful."

She continued, "He put me on the map. The world I'd been trying to break into for ten plus years, flunking auditions left and right. Finally, I sat in front of a curious man, beaming with light, speaking words from another era, making me laugh and feel at ease."

She added that his "wisdom, humour, and love gave me a special sense of belief in myself I'd never accessed before. David invited all to glimpse into that world through his exquisite storytelling, which elevated cinema and inspired generations of filmmakers across the globe. I just cannot believe that he's gone. I'm in pieces but forever grateful for our friendship."

Naomi has credited her success in Hollywood to the director several times before. In 2021 she celebrated the 20th anniversary of the movie, writing on social media, "This film changed my career. David Lynch changed my life. I'm forever grateful."

The pair worked together in 2006 on Inland Empire, and Naomi also starred in the director's revival of Twin Peaks, playing Janey-E Jones in 2017.

She has previously told how she struggled with auditions before she met David. "I was giving myself away," she admitted in 2017. "My soul was being destroyed. I was never able to walk in a room and own it by being me. David (Lynch) changed that. It was having someone actually make eye contact, ask questions he was truly interested in, take the time to unveil some layers."