Emma Watson Harry Potter Interview Young

More than 20 years ago, three children were plucked from obscurity and thrust into the international spotlight, portraying the stars of one of the most well-known stories of all time in a big-budget-franchise adaptation.

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint – who were11, 10 and 11, respectively, when they were introduced at a news conference in 2000– starred in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, ” which premiered in the U.S. on Nov. 16, 2001. They would spend the next 10 years starring in the wildly successful film series based on J.K. Rowling’s books.

The three of them share a bond that no one else could ever relate to, saysDina Sartore-Bodo, managing editor atHollywoodLife.com.They were the biggest stars of their age, in a franchise with a dedicated fandom who were desperate for every detail of the movies to be exactly how they envisioned in the books. That’s a lot of pressure.

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For child actors, fame brings glamour and money but also shifts in relationships with peers andparents, adulthood responsibilities andintense media and public scrutiny about their appearance or identity, says Meghan Gillen, an associate professor of psychology at Penn State Abington, who studies developmental psychology and body image.

Director Chris Columbus, who helmed the first two “Potter” films, saw firsthand how fame could hurtyoung actors: His directing credits included “Home Alone” and “Mrs. Doubtfire, ” which catapultedMacaulay Culkin and Mara Wilson into the spotlight.

Both have since detailed their struggles with childhood fame, and Columbus would learn he needed to prioritize protecting the kids in his films from what he dubbed an onslaught of publicity.

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We're just working, it's just a movie, Columbus told USA TODAY in 2001 of his advice to the young Potter actors. I try to instill that in the kids. I tell them:'No weekend at Michael Jackson's house. None of that stuff. Do not go. That happened to Macaulay. Don't become seduced by this whole star thing. It's empty.'

I originally didn't want the kids to go to America and do Lettermanand Lenoand all that stuff, Columbus noted at the time. I thought they'd be much more grounded if they stayed here and did this press and went on to their next movie. The good news is, they'll go do that and then come right back. It'll be back to the world of work, and we'll be back to the way it was, and we'll all be surrounding each other.

For all the efforts to protect the actors from any major downward spirals, it was still difficult to keeptheir growing pains from becoming fodder for Page Six.

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Radcliffe's post-wizarding career has been agrab-bag of eclectic roles: acting nude on Broadway, starring as a man who grows horns in a comedy horror film, and portraying a low-levelemployee of God (played by Steve Buscemi), to name a few.

But toward the end of his Potter run, the actor struggled with alcohol use, which was sometimes put on display in tabloids. He has since gotten sober andspoken publicly on the lack of a blueprint for child stars growing up in the public eye.

The quickest way of forgetting about the fact that you were being watched was to get very drunk, he told Off Camera With Sam Jonesin 2019. Then as you get very drunk, you become aware that, 'Oh, people are watching more now because now I'm getting very drunk, so I should probably drink more to ignore that more.'

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Child actors are “held to higher standards when they're younger, because they're in these roles (where) adult responsibilities are expected of them, ” Gillen says. “When you have those kinds of expectations placed on you at a young age, you don't have the opportunity to explore your identity and to have freedom from those responsibilities. …Everyone at one point or another in life needs time to explore and figure out who they are and make mistakes.”

Despite her level of celebrity, Watson has opted for a life these days fairly out of the public eye.After pulling a Hermione and becoming the only one of the trio to go to college (she graduated from Brown University in 2014), she nowchooses her acting roles and public appearances carefully, and the rare occasions when she speaks out are usually to bring attention to a cause.

In 2014, the actress spoke before the U.N. to bring attention to HeForShe, a campaign that called on men to help end gender inequality.During the speech, Watson opened up about being sexualized by media as early as 14.

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When Watsonwrapped up filming the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movies and unveileda pixie cut – a major pivot from the long, curly Hermione locks fans had come to expect – it came as a shock.

Not only was the change in appearance on-par for a young woman her age (then 20), but Gillen perceives the move as Watson's response to years of heavy scrutiny and unwanted attention paid to her appearance.

“It's a way of saying, 'You've sexualized me and I'm just going todo what I want, if this is what I feel like at this moment, ’ “ Gillen says. “It's kind of like pushback to that sexualization and an affirmation of her own identity. … It's something that for women can really help assert themselves and maybe gain back some of that power that they felt was lost in that kind of situation.”

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Grint disappeared from public view for a while after Potter. He appeared in a selection of English indie films and TV shows, but nothing that has reached the acclaim of his Ron Weasley days.

He hasstayed largely out of sight, until he dipped a toe back in a year ago, setting up an Instagram account 10 years too late to share the first photo of his newborn baby withgirlfriendGeorgia Groome (yes, the actress from Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging).

Given the intense magnifying lens on the Potter actors in the franchise's prime, experts say it's no surprise that all three actors remain cautious about the image of themselves put out into the world. But their occasional re-entries into the public eye serve ascomforting reminders to fans of a beloved collection of films that their childhood idols turned out all right.

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I think (the actors) all appreciate the cultural impact the films have hadand the unique opportunity it’s laid out for each them to craft careers they want to have, Sartore-Bodo says.I don’t think you’ll ever hear them knock the films or the characters they played. They seem very proud to be known as Harry, Hermioneand Ron. These characters define their screen career, and they’re OK with that.Growing up, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter was a major part of every child’s life, and Emma Watson was no exception. Mesmerized by the magical story development by Rowling, Watson even starred as Hermione Granger in the epic franchise. Appearing as a young and ambitious person just like her character, Watson simply devoted herself to the movies.

However, eventually, her commitment to the movies turned her life upside down when she failed to adjust to her life outside the franchise. Appearing as Hermione Granger at the age of 9, Emma Watson spent a major portion of her life on the set of Harry Potter . Thus, appearing for an interview with Elle , Watson expressed how her passion and focus on her job came at the cost of her identity. 

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Why Emma Watson Was Never The Same After Harry Potter

Auditioning at the early age of 9 for the first installment, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, Emma Watson played the role of the young scholarly witch, Hermione Granger. Playing the same role for the entirety of the franchise, Watson dedicated a major portion of her life to the same role. Spending more than a decade, filming eight Harry Potter films, the actress and the entire cast, along with Warner Bros created a blockbuster franchise that has its own universe and a massive fanbase. 

Although Harry Potter has been the biggest achievement and the breakout role for Emma Watson in her whole entertainment career, she faced certain issues at the completion of the film series. Dedicating herself entirely to the series and bringing out her character with passion, Watson admitted to losing her identity over the course of years. Expressing how she was affected by the role of Hermione Granger, Watson mentioned facing stunted growth of her personal self. 

Failing to adjust to her life outside the Harry Potter set, Watson stated, “[I’ve] spent more than half of my life pretending to be someone else ”. Comparing her life with her fellow actresses, Emma Watson stated, “While my contemporaries were dyeing their hair and figuring out who they were, I was figuring out who Hermione was and how best to portray her. ” Thus, investing a major portion of her childhood and teenage years into the epic franchise, Watson mentioned facing difficulty with self-identity. 

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