Entertainment Movies Naomi Watts Celebrates 'The Ring' Anniversary: 'Where Did Those 20 Years Go?' Naomi Watts previously explained to PEOPLE she had a "real hard time with saying yes" to starring in 2002's The Ring By Benjamin VanHoose Benjamin VanHoose Benjamin VanHoose is an Associate Editor on the Movies team at PEOPLE. He has written about entertainment and breaking news for over five years. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 20, 2022 05:16PM EDT Photo: Merrick Morton/Dreamworks Llc/Macdonald/Parkes Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock Seven days turned into two decades for Naomi Watts and The Ring. The Oscar nominee, 54, played Rachel Keller in the 2002 horror film, a remake of the 1998 Japanese movie Ringu. Watts' reporter character investigates a mysterious VHS tape that, once watched, gives the viewer one week to live before a frightening figure crawls out of the TV to kill them. "Who knew a videotape would scare the pants off everyone?! 📼😱 Where did those 20 years go #?! #TheRing," Watts wrote on Instagram alongside a video compilation of some scary scenes from the film. The Ring also starred Martin Henderson and Brian Cox, and Watts returned for the 2005 sequel, which had Sissy Spacek, Simon Baker and Elizabeth Perkins in its cast. (There was also a reboot, Rings, in 2017.) Watts still works in the horror genre today: She stars in the new Prime Video movie Goodnight Mommy and in Netflix's The Watcher series, both now streaming. Naomi Watts Recalls Being Told Her Career Would Be 'Over at 40': 'That Just Made Me So Mad' Merrick Morton/Dreamworks Llc/Macdonald/Parkes Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. "There is a lot that comes under the umbrella of fear in terms of expression, and so many different emotions to play with," she said of what draws her to the genre during an interview with InStyle. "I went to a screening of Goodnight Mommy, and seeing how people collectively react by screaming and grabbing each other and then laughing makes it fun." "Certainly as an actor I find it very fun to play with such a vast amount of emotions, but I think it also applies to an audience," added Watts. Dominik Bindl/Getty Watts previously told PEOPLE it took some convincing for her to do The Ring. "I was having a real hard time with saying yes. I remember having this conversation with my agent, and he was like, 'I really, really think you should do this.' I said, 'I don't think I can. I'm just not sure. I just don't know.' I was really pushing back on it," she recalled. "Then he actually raised his voice and said, 'Just say yes. I'm telling you, trust me on this.' " She said meeting with director Gore Verbinski also helped sway her. "He blew me away in the meeting," she said, adding that she is now glad she was in the film and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome: "It turned out to be great! Who knew?"