Sci-Fi Wire – February 2005

Simon Baker, who co-stars with Naomi Watts in The Ring Two, told SCI FI Wire that the actress greatly impressed him. "She's one of my favorite people," Baker (Red Planet, the upcoming Land of the Dead) said in an interview. "I've actually known her forever, so it was a blast to work with her. As an actress, she's just so good."

Baker added, "When people get to a certain level they sometimes become self-conscious, and their work gets constricted. And with Naomi it's completely the opposite. The more successful she's gotten, the more risks she takes. She just commits to everything. So working with her was quite inspirational. It's harder to impress someone who's known you for 12 years. Sometimes that mystery isn't there anymore. But she impressed me."

Like its predecessor, The Ring Two revolves around journalist Rachel Keller (Watts) and her son, Aidan (David Dorfman). Having survived their first encounter with the evil spirit of Samara, Rachel and Aidan relocate to Astoria, Ore., where Rachel goes to work at a small-town newspaper owned and published by Max Rourke (Baker). It's not long before Rachel, Aidan and Max are swept up in new horrors relating to Samara and those cursed videotapes that spell doom for anyone who screens them.

Baker said that he believes Hideo Nakata—the Japanese director who launched the Ring series with the original Japanese film Ringu and who makes his English-language debut with The Ring Two—has crafted a worthy sequel. "I think it'll be frightening," Baker said. "It pushes the story to the next level. I think there's a lot of anticipation for this film. I liked the script. But I'm a realist. I'm the guy who errs on the side of 'We'll just wait and see.' But I did see a preview of the film. It was hard for me to watch it, because I worked on the film, but I still jumped out of my seat a few times and made a few noises.”