Naomi Watts met former spy to prepare for role

Australian actress Naomi Watts has recounted how she met with a former spy to prepare for her latest movie role.

The 42-year-old star had several meetings with former CIA operations officer Valerie Plame – the woman she plays in true-life thriller Fair Game.

"She wanted to meet at an airport," she told Metro. "I remember saying to my husband: 'Who on earth meets at an airport?' And then I thought: 'Oh yeah. Of course, spies do.'"

"It wasn't until our third meeting that we ordered a nice bottle of wine and I felt like I could throw some really personal questions at her, like how did she deal with this in the home?"

Plame's identity was leaked to journalists in 2003, exposing a number of her contacts and resulting in the end of her undercover career.

"The hardest thing for Valerie, I think, is when reporters started bothering her children," Watts added.

Sean Penn stars opposite the actress in the film, playing Plame's former diplomat husband Joseph Wilson.