Emma Watson Says She Took Acting Hiatus Because She “Wasn’t Very Happy” and Felt “A Bit Caged”

Emma Watson is ready to waltz back on screen. The actor recently opened up about her acting hiatus, saying she took a break because she was feeling “a bit caged.”

The Harry Potter actor hasn’t been in a new movie or television series since Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, which premiered in December 2019. 

Watson has been a screen staple since her acting debut in 2001 when she originated the role of Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. She went on to star in the movies for the following seven movies until franchise concluded in 2011.

Watson later made appearances in Perks of Being A Wallflower, The Bling Ring and The Circle. 

The actor made an appearance in the 2022 HBO Max television special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.

Watson addressed her absence from the acting scene in a recent interview with The Financial Times, saying she was “wasn’t very happy” and “felt a bit caged.”

She continued, “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.”

Watson said she was being “held accountable” in a manner that she didn’t agree with. “I didn’t have a voice, I didn’t have a say,” she said. “I started to realize that I only wanted to stand in front of things where if someone was going to give me flak about it, I could say, in a way that didn’t make me hate myself, ‘Yes, I screwed up, it was my decision, I should have done better.'”

However – never say never. The screen star said she would “absolutely” return to acting if the right project came along. “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 any more,” she said.

Watson is also finding different ways to be involved in the entertainment industry and commented on her experience directing herself in a Prada Paradoxe commercial in 2022. She said, “People always told me I should direct and produce, even when I was on Potter. I was worried it was just technical, not creative, and I couldn’t bring what I think is probably my skill set.”

The actor shared that she began stepping into these new roles to help “friends asking for favors” and realized that she’s well-versed in the arena. She expressed, “Being a director seemed unattainable. I don’t think I had any confidence in that.”

When it comes to future projects, the actor revealed that she’s been asked to direct a music video for a popular male musician, teasing, “You will definitely have heard of him.”

Any guesses? My money’s on Harry Styles.