Harry Potter star Emma Watson explains why she walked away from acting

Harry Potter star Emma Watson recently explained in an interview why she took a break from acting. The actress’ last role was in the 2019 film Little Women.

The star originally gained fame for her several appearances in the Harry Potter film franchise as the young witch Hermione Granger, starting in 2001 with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Watson was 11 years old upon joining the franchise, returning for seven more films until the story’s conclusion in 2011 with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

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In an interview with the Financial Times, Watson stated that she’d been unhappy with acting and decided to take a break from future roles and performances. Watson stated, “I think I felt a bit caged … the thing I found really hard was that 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."

But the actress made it clear that she’s not done with acting forever, saying, "I’m happy to sit and wait for the next right thing. I love what I do … 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.”

Aside from her role in Harry Potter, Emma Watson has prominent leading roles in several other films, such as the aforementioned Little Women, Disney’s live-action adaptation of Beauty & the Beast, and The Circle.