Emma Watson Was Worried That Playing Hermione Would Affect Her Acting in a Bad Way
Emma Watson spent a decade of her life portraying Hermione in the Harry Potter franchise. But because she was so used to the character, she wondered if her Hermione might accidentally show up in her non-Harry Potter flicks.
Emma Watson was worried that Hermione might hold back her acting
Although Watson had been acting since she was 11-years-old, she spent a good portion of her formative years being Hermione. This was different from other child stars like Dakota Fanning who grew up playing multiple characters. Still, Watson considered being a part of the hit franchise a learning experience that primed her for future challenges in her career.
“I’ve worked with animals, special effects, I’ve done some serious stunts and I’ve worked with some of the best actors and actresses in the world,” she once told Mirror. “I couldn’t have had better training. I feel I’ve graduated from the most difficult, hard-core film school of all time and I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been. Now I’m ambitious to use what I’ve learned to do good work.”
Her Harry Potter experiences came in handy when she further branched out her career with more acting work. Since Potter, she’d starred in a wide range of films that included Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Bling Ring. She credited other filmmakers for seeing what Watson could potentially bring to the table with her performances.
“I really get boxed up as ‘nice white middle-class girl’. But I’ve been amazed about how open-minded directors have been about what I might be able to do,” she once told Empire (via Irish Examiner).
But in the back of her mind, Watson was occasionally worried that her Hermione character would creep through her work in different films.
“I get to play a crazy LA valley girl, a biblical girl, an American high school girl, an 18th century period girl … getting to do lots of different things,” she said. “But it’s always worrying: is all that’s going to come out Hermione?”
Emma Watson didn’t want to act again unless she came across a character as good as Hermione
Earlier in her career, Watson wasn’t sure if she was going to remain an actor going forward. One of the reasons why she attended university was due to her passion for education, which may have been stronger than her acting ambitions.
“I’ve been saying that I wanted to go to university since I was eleven, so if they didn’t let me, I’d be pretty upset,” she once told Teen Vogue.
There was a period where Watson even considered quitting Harry Potter altogether so she could indulge more in her education. But Watson would see the series through its conclusion, and was excited about going to college. However, she wasn’t sure if she had that same level of excitement about a film career after Harry Potter. At the time, her future as a movie star seemed dependent on whether she’d find another character like Hermione.
“There’s not, like, a burning passion in me that I have to act and I don’t care what I do,” she said. “Until something comes along that I feel as strongly about as I did Hermione—like, I felt that it was life or death—I don’t want to act again.”
Emma Watson chose roles based off of instinct
Watson would eventually return to acting after all and further establish her movie career. But she didn’t set out to plan what kind of career she’d have. Speaking with Interview, Watson shared that her career choices came down to her gut feeling.
“People sometimes talk about me as being a brand, having a strategy and whatever else. I wish. Seriously. I wish I had it together enough to have a strategy,” she said. “But it’s so instinctual. It usually comes down to two things: the person I’m working with—the director is really important to me—and a line in a script. There’s usually one line that I read and I’m like, “Okay. I have to say this line. I have to tell this story.” It’s an instant click.”
