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Naomi Watts Is Radiant in Allure, Reveals the “Ballsy” Way She Hit on Liev Schreiber

Naomi Watts in Allure
Gracing the cover of the November issue of Allure magazine, Naomi Watts reveals the "ballsy" way she hit on longtime love Liev Schreiber back in 2005

This girl’s got game! Together since 2005, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber are one of Hollywood’s hottest and most beloved couples. But as the Diana actress, 45, reveals in the November issue of Allure, they might never have hooked up if she hadn’t mustered up the courage to make the first move at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala eight years ago.

Related: PHOTOS: Stars and their soulmates

“It was a lot more ballsy than I would ever normally be,” Watts tells the magazine of pursuing the Ray Donovan star, 46. “Normally I want a guy to make the first move, and he wasn’t. Then he got up to say he was leaving and I was like, ‘Oh, s–t. Probably another couple years are going to pass by.'”

The British-Australian actress couldn’t let the opportunity go to waste. “I was wildly attracted to him and his work, so I said something cheeky as he was about to walk out,” she continues. “I said, ‘Don’t you want my digits?’ Because I couldn’t possibly say, ‘Would you like my phone number?'”

Related: PHOTOS: Liev Schreiber's life as a dad

Her cheekiness worked. “It made him laugh,” she recalls. “He texted me five minutes later saying, ‘Would you like to go for a drink now?’ And I said, ‘No, I’ll meet you for breakfast tomorrow.'”

The rest, as they say, is history. Watts and Schreiber have been together ever since and have two children, sons Alexander, 6, and Samuel, 4.

Naomi Watts Allure Cover
Naomi Watts on Allure Cover

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrity couples, then and now

Indeed, a lot has changed for both stars since that fateful first meeting. And though Watts already has multiple Academy Award nominations under her belt, she feels the best years of her career could still be ahead of her.

“Women in their 40s have gone through quite a few different things, and so the roles are going to reflect that,” the 21 Grams actress tells Allure. “People say, ‘Oh, it’s done by 40,’ and now everyone knows it’s not. I actually feel like the roles are a lot more interesting.”

Related: PHOTOS: Naomi Watts as Princess Diana

Case in point? The role of Princess Diana in the much-anticipated upcoming biopic — a role she initially declined. “I thought, ‘Everyone’s going to jump to these comparisons: She’s not tall enough. She hasn’t got the nose. She hasn’t got the voice,'” Watts confesses. “[I thought], ‘It’s not going to work, it’s too scary. So I said no. But for some reason, I didn’t feel completely at peace with that decision. It was nerve-wracking every step of the way until I was there, and then it was like, ‘Okay, now I’m just doing it.'”

For more of Naomi Watts in Allure — including behind-the-scenes photos from her cover shoot, an on-set interview with the star, and a timeline of her best looks — visit Allure.com.

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