Actress Emma Watson did not rule out eventually returning to acting. Meanwhile, she remains focused on writing poetry, advertising direction, and launching a gin brand.
At the age of 11, Emma Watson had already achieved stardom thanks to the first film in the 'Harry Potter' saga. She still had many years left to demonstrate his talent in acting, but in 2018, after participating in the latest film version of 'Little Women' (released a year later), he decided to put everything on pause and concentrate on his personal projects.
What was the reason for her walking away from such a fruitful career? "She wasn't happy, to be honest," she confessed in a recent interview with the Financial Times. "I think I felt trapped. What was very difficult for me was that I had to go out and sell something that I didn't have much control over," added the 33-year-old performer who has also ventured into fashion and has a degree in literature. English from Brown University.
If Emma Watson didn't like something about her profession, it was the promotional campaigns for the films. The most demanding of them was when she gave life to Belle in the live-action of "Beauty and the Beast." "Defending a film and having to answer questions from journalists like, 'How does this role align with your point of view?' It was very difficult to be the face and spokesperson for things in whose processes I was not involved," said.
"I felt responsible in a way that I found very frustrating because I didn't have a voice. I realized that I just wanted to be doing things that, if someone criticized me for, I could say in a way that didn't make me hate myself, 'Yes.' "I was wrong, and it was my decision. I should have done better," he added.
What has Emma Watson been focused on during these years of absence from the big screen? One of her projects is a gin brand that she started with her brother Alex and her father, Chris. Renais is the flavored liqueur she makes with grapes from the Chablis area of France. In that region, her father, a wine specialist, has owned vineyards for three decades, so this venture has the flavor of a family tribute for the actress.
"I couldn't let another person be in charge of being part of it because it's our family, our story," said she, who played the young witch Hermione Granger in eight films. She serves as a shareholder in the business. "We have to sell a product, but I think it would hurt my soul if it had been done in a way that wasn't personal," she explained.
Her relationship with literature, on the other hand, has allowed Emma Watson to write poetry during the confinement caused by the pandemic. Hence, she is interested in following a creative writing course in September, but not at her alma mater, but at the University of Oxford. As if that weren't enough, she has also directed an advertising campaign for the Prada brand. "Being a director seemed unattainable. I had no confidence. I know it seems strange because I grew up on a film set," she said.
And what else awaits her in the future? Watson announced that she hopes to return to acting as soon as she is presented with an opportunity that she considers appropriate for her. "I'm happy to sit back and wait for the next right project. I love what I do. It's about finding a way to do it where I don't have to fracture myself into different faces and people. I don't want to turn on robot mode anymore. Does that mean meaning?" he reflected.
