Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990)[4] is a British actress, model, and activist. Born in Paris and brought up in Oxfordshire, Watson attended the Dragon School and trained as an actress at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. She rose to prominence after landing her first professional acting role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series, having acted only in school plays previously.[5] Watson appeared in all eight Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011, earning worldwide fame, critical accolades, and around $60 million.[6]
Watson continued to work outside of the Harry Potter films, appearing in the 2007 television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes and lending her voice to The Tale of Despereaux (2008). Following the last Harry Potter film, she took on starring and supporting roles in My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) and The Bling Ring (2013), made an appearance as an exaggerated version of herself in This Is the End (2013),[7] and portrayed the title character's adopted daughter in Noah (2014).[8] In 2017, she starred as Belle in a live-action adaptation of the musical romantic fantasy film Beauty and the Beast. Her other roles include Regression (2015), Colonia (2015) and The Circle (2017).
From 2011 to 2014, Watson split her time between working on film projects and continuing her education, studying at Brown University and Worcester College, Oxford and graduating from Brown with a bachelor's degree in English literature in May 2014.[9] Her modelling work has included campaigns for Burberry and Lancôme.[10][11] As a fashion consultant, she helped create a line of clothing for People Tree.[12] She was honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2014, winning for British Artist of the Year.[13] That same year, she was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill ambassador and helped launch the UN Women campaign HeForShe, which calls for men to advocate gender equality.[14]
Career
1999–2003: Beginnings and breakthrough
An image of hand and feet impressions in a tile of concrete.
Handprints, shoe-prints and wand prints of (from left to right) Watson, Radcliffe, Grint, at TCL Chinese Theatre in 2007
In 1999, casting began for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States), the film adaptation of British author J. K. Rowling's best-selling novel. Casting agents found Watson through her Oxford theatre teacher, and producers were impressed by her confidence. After eight auditions, producer David Heyman told Watson and fellow applicants Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint that they had been cast for the roles of the school friends Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, respectively. Rowling supported Watson from her first screen test.[19]
The release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001 was Watson's debut screen performance. The film broke records for opening-day sales and opening-weekend takings and was the highest-grossing film of 2001.[24][25] Critics praised the performances of the three leads, often singling out Watson for particular acclaim; The Daily Telegraph called her performance "admirable",[26] and IGN said she "stole the show".[27] Watson was nominated for five awards for her performance in Philosopher's Stone, winning the Young Artist Award for Leading Young Actress.[28]
A year later, Watson again starred as Hermione in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second instalment of the series. Reviewers praised the lead actors' performances. The Los Angeles Times said Watson and her peers had matured between films,[29] while The Times criticised director Chris Columbus for "under-employing" Watson's hugely popular character.[30] Watson received an Otto Award from the German magazine Bravo for her performance.[3
004–2011: Harry Potter and other roles
Watson at the premiere of Goblet of Fire in November 2005
In 2004, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released. Watson was appreciative of the more assertive role Hermione played, calling her character "charismatic" and "a fantastic role to play".[32] Although critics panned Radcliffe's performance, labelling him "wooden", they praised Watson; The New York Times lauded her performance, saying "Luckily Mr. Radcliffe's blandness is offset by Ms. Watson's spiky impatience. Harry may show off his expanding wizardly skills ... but Hermione ... earns the loudest applause with a decidedly unmagical punch to Draco Malfoy's deserving nose."[33] Although Prisoner of Azkaban proved to be the lowest-grossing Harry Potter film of the entire series, Watson's personal performance won her two Otto Awards and the Child Performance of the Year award from Total Film.[34][35]
With Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), both Watson and the Harry Potter film series reached new milestones. The film set records for a Harry Potter opening weekend, a non-May opening weekend in the US, and an opening weekend in the UK. Critics praised the increasing maturity of Watson and her teenage co-stars; The New York Times called her performance "touchingly earnest".[36] For Watson, much of the humour of the film sprang from the tension among the three lead characters as they matured. She said, "I loved all the arguing. ... I think it's much more realistic that they would argue and that there would be problems."[37] Nominated for three awards for Goblet of Fire, Watson won a bronze Otto Award.[38][39] Later that year, Watson became the youngest person to appear on the cover of Teen Vogue,[40] an appearance she reprised in August 2009.[41] In 2006, Watson played Hermione in The Queen's Handbag, a special mini-episode of Harry Potter in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday.[42]
Watson at the premiere of Half-Blood Prince in July 2009
The fifth film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was released in 2007. A huge financial success, the film set a record worldwide opening-weekend gross of $332.7 million.[43] Watson won the inaugural National Movie Award for Best Female Performance.[44] As the fame of the actress and the series continued, Watson and fellow Harry Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint left imprints of their hands, feet and wands in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on 9 July 2007.[45]
By July 2007, Watson's work in the Harry Potter series was said to have earned her more than £10 million, and she acknowledged she would never have to work for money again.[46] In March 2009, she was ranked 6th on the Forbes list of "Most Valuable Young Stars",[47] and in February 2010, she was named as Hollywood's highest paid female star, having earned an estimated £19 million in 2009.[48]
Despite the success of Order of the Phoenix, the future of the Harry Potter franchise became surrounded in doubt, as all three lead actors were hesitant to sign on to continue their roles for the final two episodes.[49] Radcliffe eventually signed for the final films on 2 March 2007,[49] but Watson was considerably more hesitant.[50] She explained that the decision was significant, as the films represented a further four-year commitment to the role, but eventually conceded that she "could never let [the role of] Hermione go",[51] signing for the role on 23 March 2007.[52]
Watson with Daniel Radcliffe (left) and Rupert Grint at the London premiere of Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in July 2011
Watson's first non-Potter role was the 2007 BBC film Ballet Shoes, an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Noel Streatfeild.[53][54] The film's director, Sandra Goldbacher, commented that Watson was "perfect" for the starring role of aspiring actress Pauline Fossil: "She has a piercing, delicate aura that makes you want to gaze and gaze at her."[55] Ballet Shoes was broadcast in the UK on Boxing Day 2007 to an audience of 5.7 million viewers, to mixed reviews.[56][57][58]
Watson also lent her voice to the role of Princess Pea in the animated film The Tale of Despereaux, a children's comedy starring Matthew Broderick, with Harry Potter co-star Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid) also starring in the film.[59] The Tale of Despereaux was released in December 2008 and grossed $87 million worldwide.[60]
Principal photography for the sixth Harry Potter film began in late 2007, with Watson's part being filmed from 18 December to 17 May 2008.[61][62] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince premiered on 15 July 2009,[63] having been delayed from November 2008.[64] With the lead actors now in their late teens, critics were increasingly willing to review them on the same level as the rest of the film's all-star cast, which the Los Angeles Times described as "a comprehensive guide to contemporary UK acting".[65] The Washington Post felt Watson to have given "[her] most charming performance to date",[66] while The Daily Telegraph described the lead actors as "newly liberated and energised, eager to give all they have to what's left of the series".[67] In December 2008, Watson stated she wanted to go to university after she completed the Potter series.[68]
Watson's filming for the final instalment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, began on 18 February 2009[69] and ended on 12 June 2010.[70] For financial and scripting reasons, the original book was divided into two films which were shot consecutively.[71][72] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 was released in November 2010 while the second film was released in July 2011.
She also appeared in a music video for One Night Only, after meeting lead singer George Craig at the 2010 Winter/Summer Burberry advertising campaign. The video, Say You Don't Want It, was screened on Channel 4 on 26 June 2010 and released on 16 August.[73] In her first post-Harry Potter film, Watson appeared in 2011's My Week with Marilyn as Lucy, a wardrobe assistant who is flirted with by the main character, Colin Clark, and has a few dates with him.[74][75]
