Naomi Watts on the edge

She may have the cool, collected looks of a Hitchcock blonde, but, like those perfectly coifed starlets, many of the characters Naomi Watts chooses to play are often trouble…with a capital C, as in crazy. “I’m the go-to girl for nervous breakdowns,” said the 48-year-old actress recently. Of her complicated role in the new Netflix thriller, Gypsy, Watts adds, “She’s walking a fine line in dealing with her sanity.”

In the eight-part series, Watts plays Jean Holloway, a New York City therapist with the seemingly perfect life: a home in Connecticut, a handsome husband (Billy Crudup), and a great kid. But her long-hidden disturbing past begins to creep into her present and soon she’s crossing over into very dangerous—and deeply sexual—territory with her patients and the people in their lives. The first two episodes are directed by 50 Shades of Grey helmer, Sam Taylor-Johnson, who certainly knows her way around a sexy romp in the dark. Bingeing begins June 30.