Naomi Watts Explains Upcoming Book on Menopause and Struggles as a Woman

Naomi Watts has been hard at work on her first book—and she says it’s not your typical celebrity memoir.

On Tuesday, the actress, 55, announced that Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known about Menopause will be hitting shelves in January. And as the title suggests, the book is intended to serve as a reference manual for menopause and other aspects of aging as a woman.

“This is a book about how my life turned upside down when I was told I was close to menopause at the age of 36! Right when I was ready to start a family,” the Mulholland Drive star wrote on Instagram.

Watts’ book—which will include her personal story, anecdotes from her own experience with menopause, and conversations with friends and experts—stems from her desire to help women feel less alone and to break the taboo surrounding menopause, a natural stage of aging.

“As I struggled through shame and secrecy, I wished there was an open conversation. A handbook I could secretly turn the pages of. Sadly, there were no real resources. Not even well-versed doctors,” she added.

“Feeling confused, alone, and unsupported during this stage of life, Watts was determined to do better for herself and for other women, and began boldly using her platform to normalize conversations about this natural process,” read a press release about the upcoming book, which will include a foreword by Dr. Mary Claire Haver.

Watts—already a leading voice in the menopause health advocacy space—previously wrote an introduction for Menopause Is Hot: Everything You Need to Know to Thrive by Mariella Frostrup and Alice Smellie, founded Stripes, a menopause-focused brand, and started co-hosting The New Pause Symposium in 2022.

“I had a lot of anxiety in the lead-up to creating this business, and then I just felt like, well, every woman is going to get to this point. Why are we not getting better care?” she said at the time. “There’s just a lack of education and research.”

“Menopause is a part of a woman’s midlife, but midlife is about far more than menopause,” she emphasized in a statement. “We should all hold our heads high. We are older, we are wiser, and we are NOT DONE!! We’ve earned our STRIPES ❤️”