Despite Making $70M from Harry Potter, Emma Watson Feels Her Career Is “Constrained” After Being Cast As Hermione Granger
Actress Emma Watson became a household name thanks to her role as Hermoine Granger in the Harry Potter movie series. The role meant a lot to her as while growing up, she read a lot of Harry Potter books. The actress, however, feels like she is defined only by the role despite appearing in several other hits like Noah, Regression, and Little Women. It makes sense though as the actress appeared in 10 Harry Potter movies despite signing up for only appearing in the first two. Despite the role overshadowing her other roles, she still feels like it was a good opportunity as it gave her popularity.
Emma Watson feels “constrained”
Actor Emma Watson feels like the media won’t let go of her work in the Harry Potter series despite her appearing in other good movies. The actress explained that she feels “constrained” because of the role as she has been trying to let go of it. She once said,
“I’m not complaining, because people really have given me permission to evolve and have been very supportive of my work outside of Harry Potter. So I don’t feel too suffocated in that sense. But sometimes I’ve felt a little constrained by that idea of who I’m meant to be. Every article that’s published about me has some reference to Hogwarts or Hermione or magic or ‘What would Harry and Ron say?'”
The actress explained that whenever she is trying to promote a new project, the media always mentions her work in the Harry Potter series.
The actress still values the opportunity
Even though she feels like the role defines her, she also feels like Hermoine Granger’s role was the reason behind her success. It is no doubt that the role has made her a household name. She said,
“But I just can’t allow myself to get frustrated by that, because I’m really proud to have been part of Harry Potter and proud of the work that I did on those movies. And it’s understandable—you can’t expect people to adjust their expectations overnight. I think it would be stupid to try and fight it too much.”
She concluded by saying that it would be stupid to try and fight it as people will never stop associating her with the role.
The actress has turned down a lot of roles
The Perks of Being a Wallflower star has appeared in a lot of movies and played roles that are very different from the role of Hermoine Granger. As an actress, she was offered many roles after the Harry Potter series but she turned them down as she prioritized her education over her acting career. She went back to college in 2009 in order to complete her education.
Source: Rookie Mag
