Naomi Watts recalls a conversation with Billy Crudup about ball hair


Billy Crudup made Naomi Watts feel better about menopause by telling her about the gray hairs on his balls 797

Billy Crudup, Naomi Watts. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Billy Crudup had some “romantic” words for Naomi Watts the first time they slept together – but they had nothing to do with keeping things hot and heavy.

“Hey, if it makes you feel better: I’ve got gray hair on my balls,” Crudup, 56, told Watts the first time they slept together, according to her book Dare I say it: Everything I wish I knew about menopause.

Watts, 56, shared her menopause journey in the book, released on Tuesday, January 21. Part memoir, part informative guide, the book chronicles Watts’ experience with hormone patches—where that particular story came about.

“I started wearing the patch a few years earlier for hormone therapy. I was worried that if he saw it, he would know I was menopausal: I was no longer a vibrant, fertile being,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, the adhesive on the patch leaves a mark on the skin that is very difficult to remove.”

While at Crudup’s home that fateful night, Watts wrote that she “tore off (the hormone patch) and scrubbed the skin raw.” Crudup asked her if she was okay in the bathroom because things were taking so long.

“I came out terrified,” Watts shares in the book. “I stumbled and reached for words, but nothing came.”

Watts eventually admitted she was going through menopause and explained the hormone patches.

A smile spread across his face. He seemed very relieved that it wasn’t a lack of desire,” Watts recalled. “He told me he thought it was great that I was taking care of myself and asked me how he could help.”

Billy Crudup made Naomi Watts feel better about menopause by telling her about the gray hair on his balls 796
Penguin Random House

Crudup then offered a similar – but different – acknowledgment of the aforementioned gray hair.

“Those are still the most romantic words I’ve ever heard, on or off screen, and that includes the script of every movie I’ve ever been in,” Watts continued. “And even that same man’s very loving marriage proposal that came seven years later.”

Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup's Relationship Timeline From Gypsy Costars to I Do


Related: Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup Relationship Timeline

Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup have continued to build a strong foundation in their romance over the years. The couple met in 2017, a year after Watts and Liev Schreiber ended their 11-year relationship. The former have sons Sasha and Kai. At that point, Watts turned to where he was standing with Schreiber. “I am single. I’m a parent”, she (…)

Watts met Crudup on the set a gypsy2017 Netflix series in which she plays a “hot-headed, sociopathic therapist.” While filming sex scenes together, things between them were initially just friendly.

“Then one day during a sex scene, he spontaneously threw a pillow across the room while raping me with such passion that I blushed and broke character,” Watts wrote. “Soon after, during one of those long lighting changes, while we were having a meaningful conversation, we exchanged glances. They held it just a beat too long for it to be anything other than a shared attraction.

Billy Crudup made Naomi Watts feel better about menopause by telling her about the gray hairs on his balls 795
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Their flirtatious relationship began to blossom in 2017, with Us Weekly confirmation in August since that year when Watts and Crudup were together. They tied the knot in a a modest ceremony in New York in June 2023

“Loving him is the kindest thing I’ve ever done for myself,” Watts wrote in her book.

I dare say it is out now.