After appearing in a small independent film, he wanted to pursue more formal acting training and he applied to and was accepted as a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where he acquired a lot of stage experience. Says Watson, "I figured if I got in, I wouldn't have any excuse to fail on a training level. I could never say I didn't get the right kind of training, because this was the best in the world." Returning from England, he moved to Los Angeles and began appearing in television shows and movies, eventually retiring from acting in the early 1990s.