Naomi Watts Claimed She's Never Heard Of Tuna Noodle Casserole On The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon
Celebrities, they’re just like us! Except when they’re not, because they haven’t heard of one of the most basic home-cooked dinner staples. Naomi Watts was a guest on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” last Wednesday, July 24th, and it was revealed that the actress had never heard of tuna noodle casserole. Never...heard...of...tuna...noodle...casserole!
The shocking admission came out when Watts was playing Fallon’s “whisper challenge.” If you’ve never seen the segment before, Fallon and his guest take turns wearing noise-canceling headphones with music playing while the other person quietly says a phrase written on a card. The person wearing the headphones has to try to guess what the other person is saying. The headphones wearer usually ends up shouting ridiculous phrases and hilarity ensues. When it was Watts’s turn to give Fallon his clue, she had to try to get him to understand “tuna noodle casserole.” He failed, and when Watts showed him what it was, she exclaimed, “I don’t even know what that is!”
Perhaps we should give Watts a pass. She is British, after all, and spent her formative years in Australia. Tuna casserole, on the other hand, is very American. According to a history of the dish by TASTE, one of the earliest recipes for a tuna noodle casserole appeared in the Pacific Northwest in the 1930s. By the 1950s, it moved into Midwestern territory, adopted into the region’s hotdish canon. Like other casseroles or hotdishes, the appeal was in the ease and affordability of getting a few ingredients and baking them together in one dish.
It’s understandable, then, that Watts has not encountered tuna casserole, as you might have had to grow up in an American home or at least been invited to dine in one on a night when the dish happens to be on the menu. Tuna noodle casserole can be a divisive entree—you either love it or you hate it—so it would definitely be interesting to see what Watts thinks of it. Jimmy Fallon, we call on you to have Watts back on your show so she can try tuna noodle casserole and complete her full introduction to the classic dish.
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