Emma Watson Explains How Her Parents Kept Her ‘Down to Earth’
At age 9, the course of Emma Watson’s life changed irrevocably. She was cast as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies and became a celebrity overnight. The actor went from being a normal kid to moving into a hotel room to avoid the paparazzi. And Watson’s fame has only increased throughout the years. But despite all that, she has maintained some semblance of normalcy. And it seems that the actor’s parents are to thank for that.
Emma Watson’s parents had no connections to the entertainment industry
Unlike many child actors, Watson’s parents had absolutely no connections in the entertainment industry. In fact, Watson’s mom and dad didn’t have much interest in movie making. While Watson’s parents were supportive of their daughter and her pursuit to become Hermione, they were lawyers by trade and their knowledge of cinema was limited. In fact, in an interview with GQ UK, Watson revealed that she only had four movies in her home growing up.
The ‘Harry Potter’ alum revealed that her mom and dad made sure she stayed grounded
Even after their daughter became a movie star, Watson’s parents made sure to treat her in a very normal way. In fact, they never played up her celebrity status. In the aforementioned interview, The Perks of Being a Wallflower alum admits that she didn’t even realize the extent of her own power because her parents kept her so incredibly grounded.
“I think my parents were very focused on keeping me down to earth,” Watson explained. “The biggest compliment I’ve ever had, getting ready for a premiere or whatever, is that I scrub up all right. I don’t know. I didn’t fully understand what it all meant. I really didn’t have any perspective of it. I was actually just incredibly naive about the whole thing.”
Watson didn’t grasp how famous she really was until she was a young adult
One thing Watson was particularly naive about was her own fame. It wasn’t until she was in her late teens that she finally came to terms with the fact that she’d be recognized around the globe. In fact, she even took public transportation until she realized that it was more trouble than it was worth.
“I think when I — when it finally started to hit home that I was really famous, I sort of lived in denial for as long as I possibly could,” Watson revealed to W Magazine. “Telling myself ‘Oh I’m like famous for two weeks when the Harry Potter movie comes out and then everyone forgets about who I am.’ up until the age of 18. I would take the Oxford tube, which is a public bus, up and down from London. It got to the point where the fact that I was on the bus would spread from one end to the other and like it would just start to get totally crazy.”
Clearly, Watson’s parents were determined to keep her as normal as possible. And, in turn, the actor grew up craving normal experiences. Perhaps that is the reason that she opted to go to college despite having a successful career. And perhaps that normalcy can account for Watson beating the infamous child star stigma.
