Emma Watson has opened up on her feelings about rising to fame in the iconic role of Hermione Granger in the movie adaptations of the Harry Potter franchise
Emma Watson has candidly admitted the fear she felt after rising to fame on Harry Potter. The actress landed the role of Hermione Granger in the iconic book-turned-movie franchise aged just 10.
Now, 25 years on aged 35, she has made a rare confession into how she dealt with her newfound fame at the time. She called being a childhood star both frightening’ and ‘soul-destroying’.
Emma starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint in the best-selling JK Rowling series, with her fans seeing her grow up both on screen as the character and in real life. And it’s that reality that hit home or her.
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Explaining how she felt she “worked so hard for so long” for the fame, she admitted it felt as though her “life sort of bottomed out”.
She said during a chat with Hollywood Authentic while in Cannes: “The bottom fell out of the piece, which was actually me and my life. So I needed to go and do some construction work. And, if I’m being honest, I was mostly just really afraid and quite scared.”
And after trying to shake the Hermione tag in other movies, Emma opted to take herself out of the limelight and studied Creative Writing at Oxford University. She explained that leaving her showbiz life behind left her not missing one aspect – selling her projects.
“I found that to be quite soul-destroying,” she confessed. “But I do very much miss using my skill-set, and I very much miss the art. I just found I got to do so little of the bit that I actually enjoyed.”
Emma’s last came in Greta Gerwig’s 2019 remake of the classic novel Little Women. The Barbie director’s rendition of Alcott’s story features Emma alongside Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet and more.
The production was very well received by critics. “Every adaptation of Little Women has something that sets it apart from the others, but few have the sheer emotion and power that we see here with Gerwig’s interpretation,” said film critic David Griffiths for Subculture Entertainment.
He addsed: “Here Gerwig uncovers secret layers to the plot that lesser filmmakers would not have noticed, while at the same time she directs one of the most talented younger casts that modern-day cinema has ever seen assembled.
“If you leave preconceived notions you have about Little Women at the cinema door, you will find yourself totally drawn into this worthy drama.”
However, in 2023, speaking to the Financial Times, Emma candidly explained why she hadn’t took on any other roles since. “I wasn’t very happy, if I’m being honest,” she revealed.
“I think I felt a bit caged. The thing I found really hard was that I had to go out and sell something that I really didn’t have very much control over. To stand in front of a film and have every journalist be able to say, ‘How does this align with your viewpoint?’”
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