Naomi Watts chosen to play Princess Diana in new biopic

Feb 9, 2012, 16:28 GMT

London - Hollywood actress Naomi Watts has been chosen to play the late Princess Diana in a new film project by German director Oliver Hirschbiegel, a British-based production company said Thursday.

Watts, who was born in Britain but emigrated to Australia as a teenager, will star in Caught In Flight, a film about the last two years of Diana's life before she was killed in a car accident in Paris in August 1997.

The movie is expected to highlight Diana's many romances, including her much-publicized affair with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan in the two years before her death.

A spokesman for the company Ecosse Films was unable to say whether Diana's affair with Dodi al-Fayed, who died with her in Paris, would also feature.

Hirschbiegel is best known for Downfall, the highly praised film about the last days of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

'I am delighted to have such a truly exceptional actress who embodies the warmth, humanity and empathy of such a global icon as Princess Diana,' said Hirschbiegel.

The film would chart how 'finding true personal happiness for the first time allowed her (Diana) to achieve her defining successes evolving into a major international campaigner and humanitarian,' the film company said.

Watts, who has starred in King Kong and Mulholland Drive, said it was an honour to be able to play the iconic role. 'Princess Diana was loved across the world and I look forward to rising to the challenge of playing her on screen.'

Watts, who says she feels both British and Australian, was chosen after talks with Hollywood's Jessica Chastain failed to come to fruition.