Emma Watson, the beloved star of the Harry Potter franchise, recently spoke out about why she took a break from acting in a candid interview with Financial Times. The actress explained that the industry made her feel “caged,” and that the lack of control over her work and the scrutiny of journalists became too much for her to handle.
Watson became a household name at just 11 years old when she was cast as Hermione Granger in the first Harry Potter film. She played the role for 10 years, until the final installment was released in 2011. After the success of the franchise, she went on to act in a number of films, including “The Bling Ring,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Little Women.”
However, Watson explained that she found the experience of being a movie star difficult to handle, saying, “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?’ 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 went on to say that she found it frustrating to be held responsible for things she had no control over and that she only wanted to work on projects where she could take responsibility for her own decisions. “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, ‘Yes, I screwed up, it was my decision, I should have done better,'” she said.
Although Watson has not acted in five years, she expressed that she would love to return to acting in the future. “I’m happy to sit and wait for the next right thing. I love what I do,” 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.”
Watson’s honesty about the pressures of fame and the lack of control over her work is a refreshing reminder that even the biggest stars in Hollywood struggle with the price of fame. It’s clear that Watson is taking the time she needs to find the right project and regain control over her career, and fans are eager to see what she does next.
