Emma Watson is shedding light on why she chose to walk away from acting at the height of her career.
The actor shot into the limelight over 20 years ago when she was cast as Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" franchise. She went on to star in a string of hit films including "The Bling Ring," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," "Beauty and The Beast," and "The Circle."
Her final major role came in 2019, when she was cast in "Little Women." After that, Watson seemingly disappeared. Now, in an interview with the Financial Times, Watson explained that acting was not what she had expected.
"I wasn't very happy, if I'm being honest," the 33-year-old said. "I think I felt a bit caged."
Watson explained that at issue was she struggled to represent something that did not align with her ideals and views.
"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," she explained. "To stand in front of a film and have every journalist be able to say, 'How does this align with your viewpoint?' It was very difficult to have to be the face and the spokesperson for things where I didn't get to be involved in the process."
Watson was 11-years old when she made her debut appearance as Granger in 2001's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Looking back, she admitted to feeling "frustrated" because she was being held accountable despite not having a voice or a say in matters.
"And I started to realize that I only wanted to stand in front of things where if someone was going to give me flak about it, I could say, in a way that didn't make me hate myself, Yes, I screwed up, it was my decision, I should have done better," she said.
Watson is now pursuing her passion for writing and directing, notably for the luxury fashion house Prada. And while she has made the decision not to act for the foreseeable future, she has not completely ruled out a return.
"Yes, absolutely," she responded when asked if she plans to act again. "But I'm happy to sit and wait for the next right thing. I love what I do.
"It's finding a way to do it where I don't have to fracture myself into different faces and people. And I just don't want to switch into robot mode anymore," she added.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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