In a recent interview with Financial Times, Emma Watson revealed why she decided to take a break from acting. Despite rising to fame as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise and starring in movies such as “The Bling Ring, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Beauty and the Beast and Little Women,” Watson said she “wasn’t very happy” working as an actress and needed time to recharge.
One of the reasons Watson decided to step back from acting was that she felt “caged.” As the star of a movie, every critique seemed to be directed towards her or she was held responsible for things she had no control over, something she found frustrating. She said, “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.”
Emma Watson explains why she took a break from acting and reveals her struggles with fame.
Watson rose to fame at the age of 11 and played the role of Hermione until the final installment of the Harry Potter franchise was released in 2011. In the interview, Watson explained that after filming the fourth installment, “Order of the Phoenix,” she almost dropped out of the role. The level of fame was not something she was always comfortable with, and it started to get to a tipping point where she was like, ‘This is kind of forever now.’”
Watson admitted that she struggled with the pressure that came with fame, especially when she was younger but she has always been open about how it affected her. Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the films gave Watson credit for the way she handled the immense pressure she was under. “People definitely forget what she took on and how gracefully she did it,” he said. “Dan and Rupert, they had each other. I had my cronies, whereas Emma was not only younger, she was by herself.”
Despite taking a break from acting, Watson said she “absolutely” would love to return to the industry. She loves what she does but wants to find a way to do it where she doesn’t have to fracture herself into different faces and people. She said, “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. Does that make sense?”
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Watson explained that she started to realize she only wanted to stand in front of things where she could say, “Yes, I screwed up, it was my decision, I should have done better,” in a way that didn’t make her hate herself. Watson is still waiting for the next right project and is happy to take her time until it comes along.