Emma Watson’s breathtaking performance in the “Beauty and the Beast” adaptation captivated audiences across the globe, making the world much more aware of Watson’s talent.
Watson is clearly an exception to the stereotype that child stars ultimately flame out. She has lived in the public eye since her start as Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” series at age 11 and since then, she has taken each job she’s had just as seriously.
“I would ruin takes. [Director] Chris [Columbus] would be like, ‘Cut. Emma, you’re doing it again. You’re mouthing Dan’s lines,’ and I’d be like, ‘I’m so sorry, so sorry. Oh, I feel so bad.’ But I couldn’t help myself,” Watson said about the first “Harry Potter” film in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.
She was a main character in each installment of the series, while still maintaining a distance between her business and pleasure.
“I really draw a super conscious line between what is public and what is private,” Watson said in an Entertainment Weekly cover story. “That has kind of helped me maintain a certain degree of sanity because having people weigh in and give an opinion on absolutely everything about me would just destroy me as a human being.”
She added that social media is great but becomes dangerous when a person takes the amount of attention or “likes” they receive on social media as a way of rating themselves.
At the conclusion of her role as Granger, she went to college at Brown University and graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature.
She later became a UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, where “she dedicates her efforts toward the empowerment of young women,” according to an article on UN Women. She also serves an an advocate for the “HeForShe” — a campaign for UN Women promoting gender equality.
“It’s really awesome that she is such a strong feminist icon because she has been an actress since she was a child,” pre-cardiopulmonary sciences major Lovisa Andersson said. “Most child actresses or actors fall apart once they reach the age of 18, but she’s still a great example to young girls.”
Most recently, Watson proved that the role of Belle in “Beauty and the Beast” is a strong, independent character and feminist icon.
“There’s this kind of outside quality that Belle had, and the fact [that] she had this really empowering defiance of what was expected of her,” Watson said in an interview with Independent. “She challenges the status quo of the place she lives in, and I found that really inspiring. And also, she manages to keep her integrity and have a completely independent point of view.”
“Beauty and the Beast” has broken the five biggest box office records, ironically including the last “Harry Potter” film.
Watson continues to support feminist rights and seems to only take on acting gigs in roles she finds inspiring. She has also starred in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “My Week with Marilyn” and “Noah.”