Emma Watson said she does not miss the demands of promoting films, describing the publicity side of her career as “soul destroying.”
The 35-year-old, who rose to prominence at age 10 playing Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” series, reflected on the challenges of early fame and the toll of industry expectations in an interview with Hollywood Authentic.
Watson said the promotional cycle surrounding her projects weighed heavily on her.
“A bigger component than the actual job itself is the promotion and selling of that piece of work, this piece of art,” she said. “I do not miss selling things. I found that to be quite soul destroying.”
Watson’s most recent film role was in Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of “Little Women.” Since then, she has stepped back from acting.
“I don’t miss the pressure. I forget it was a lot of pressure,” Watson said, recalling even a small informal theater project with friends as stressful.
“I don’t miss that.”
Despite this, she said she still values the creative side of acting.
“The minute the camera rolls, and getting to just completely forget about everything else in the world other than that one moment — it’s such an intense form of meditation,” Watson said. “I miss that profoundly.”
Watson also reflected on her experience with sudden fame in her adolescence. She recalled a diary entry from her early teens that revealed how isolating the experience was.
“I could see that at times I was lonely. The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way,” she said.
She has previously spoken about the emotional challenges of finding fame at a young age. In a 2019 Vogue interview, Watson described feeling guilt over not enjoying the public attention.
“Why me? Somebody else would have enjoyed and wanted this aspect of it more than I did,” she said at the time. “I’ve wrestled a lot with the guilt around that.”
Since “Little Women,” Watson has worked in fashion campaigns for Burberry and Lancôme, and in 2014 she was appointed a U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador. In 2019, she joined the G7 advisory council for women’s rights, providing policy recommendations to world leaders.
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