Emma Watson ‘Lived in Denial’ About Her Fame Until Age 18
Emma Watson is one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world. Thanks to her involvement in the Harry Potter franchise, the actor has been in the spotlight from a very young age. Watson was only 9 when she was cast as Hermione Granger, making her a celebrity overnight. Public interest in the activist only increased as the years passed. But despite her immense popularity, Watson was in denial about her fame until she was 18.
Despite her movie star status, Watson’s parents did their best to make sure her life was normal. The Noah actor wasn’t even aware of how much money she made from the Harry Potter movies until well into her teens. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of Watson’s friends weren’t in the entertainment industry, which also helped her maintain some semblance of normalcy. All these factors made it a bit easier for The Bling Ring star to discount her status as a famous public figure.
Emma Watson was in denial about her fame until the age of 18
“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 shared with 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. And I would feel like ‘Why am I doing this to myself?'”
The ‘Harry Potter’ actor bought a sensible and affordable car despite having lots of money
Eventually, Watson came to grips with the fact that she was a bonafide celebrity. She gave up taking the bus and bought herself a car with some of her Harry Potter cash. But even the car she purchased was a rather unorthodox pick for someone her age with so much access to wealth. In a conversation with Interview Magazine, Watson revealed that the first car she invested in was a Toyota Prius.
“I love the Prius, even if my friends say it’s ugly,” Watson explained. “They say I drive a brick. And, to be fair, it’s not the prettiest car on the road, but it’s good for the environment. It’s sensible and boring—like me.”
Watson revealed that attending college and fighting for normalcy was her form of rebellion
But even after Watson came to grips with her fame, she still fought for normalcy at every turn. Unlike other celebrities, Watson has never had a bodyguard. Furthermore, she even attended Brown University and lived on campus with a roommate just like any other student. This, Watson explained in the aforementioned interview with W Magazine, was her way of rebelling against her fame.
“It probably wasn’t advisable to go to college and room with a complete stranger who I had no idea who they were,” Watson shared. “Or like, you know, share a bathroom with like eight other people. That was my rebellion in a funny way, was like my insistence to be normal and do normal things. Every day was a new day and I just had to see how it went.”
