Watts & Crudup dating rumors

AFTER splitting with her long-term partner Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts has sparked rumors that she is romancing actor Billy Crudup, her co-star on the Netflix drama “Gypsy.”

Watts and Crudup, who have been filming the new psychosexual drama since late last year, were spotted holding hands in Tribeca over the weekend. They play husband and wife on the show.

One witness said that he was eating at a cafe at lunchtime when “Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup walked in holding hands. We didn’t know they were a couple. Pretty cool seeing two big stars so into each other.” The witness said that a casually dressed Watts and Crudup, who wore a black hat, ate lunch together and “looked happy and were laughing a lot, then left again holding hands.”

A spokeswoman for Watts didn’t respond to numerous requests for comment, while a rep for Crudup said, “No comment.”

Watts was with Schreiber for 11 years and they have two sons, Sasha, 9, and Sammy, 8. The former couple has remained close since their split, which they announced in September. In May, Watts, 48, told Red magazine of Schreiber, “We have huge love and respect for one another and high hopes for it to remain that way going forward.”

But she added, “[Dating] just seems completely frivolous and counterproductive and just not really in my world right now.”

It is believed she has been friends with Crudup for some time, and they were photographed together with Schreiber and Eva Mendes at a 2009 Broadway party.

Last month, Crudup, 49, said he was still looking for someone to spend the rest of his life with after previous relationships with Mary-Louise Parker, with whom he has a 13-year-old son, William, and “Homeland” star Claire Danes.

He told Mr Porter Magazine, “My son is with me part-time, so if I’m not working, I’m with him. And I have a great group of friends in New York. But I’m happiest when I’m in a relationship, for sure. And I have great faith that I’m going to find one to persevere with.”