Emma Watson says she misses acting, but dislikes selling movies, seven years after Potter fever
The actress says the artistry of acting lives on, even as she reflects on the pressure of promoting films and a long hiatus from the screen.
Emma Watson says she misses acting profoundly nearly seven years after her final big-screen role, but she has said she does not miss selling films, which she described as soul-destroying. The 35-year-old actress, famous for her portrayal of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, has not appeared in a film since 2018.
"I found that to be quite soul-destroying. 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." Watson added that the on-set experience can be brief and fraught with pressure, even as she described the moment when a scene is prepared and the camera rolls as a rare, freeing form of meditation. "The moment you get on a film set, you don't get very long for rehearsal. But the moment you get to talk through a scene — or I got to prepare and think about how I wanted to do something — and then the minute the camera rolls, and getting to just completely forget about everything else in the world other than that one moment — it's such an intense form of meditation. Because you just cannot be anywhere else. It's so freeing. I miss that profoundly. But I don’t miss the pressure. I forgot it was a lot of pressure."
In the same interview, Watson recalled how she was really afraid when she shot to fame as a child star. Her last film credit was Greta Gerwig's Little Women adaptation, a coming-of-age period drama. During her hiatus from the camera, Watson was enrolled at Oxford University, studying Creative Writing. After wrapping her final scenes on Harry Potter, she spent the following years taking on leading roles in projects such as The Circle with Tom Hanks, Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast, and the thriller Regression with Ethan Hawke.
Last year, Watson split from Brandon Green, the son of former British department-store tycoon Sir Philip Green, following an 18-month romance. She has not appeared in a film since 2018, and she has publicly reflected on not missing the aspect of promoting and selling films, while expressing a longing for the cinematic craft itself. In July, Watson was banned from driving for six months after speeding in an Audi valued at about £30,000. She received three points on her license, on top of nine points from previous offenses, and faced fines totaling more than £1,000. The star also attended court in High Wycombe to address the case.
Just last month, she appeared in public in Oxford, wearing a red polka-dot maxi dress during a picnic and painting date in an Oxford park, signaling that she remains connected to the city where she studied and spent time during her hiatus.