Emma Watson Used to Be ‘Really Upset’ With How Hemione Granger Looked in ‘Harry Potter’
Emma Watson has always had a close connection with her Harry Potter character Hermione Granger. However, in the beginning she wasn’t pleased with how she was made to look in the role.
Her opinion later changed, and as Watson grew older she learned to appreciate Hermione’s appearance more.
Emma Watson once shared she always identified herself with Hermione Granger
Watson has always felt that she was very much like her Harry Potter counterpart. Similarly to the heroic wizard, Watson held great pride in her education and enjoyed learning from a very young age. This further endeared her to Hermione, who was also portrayed as a passionate student at Hogwarts.
“I started reading Harry Potter when I was 8 – I just really identified with her,” Watson once said to Paper (via Radio Times). “I was the girl in school whose hand shot up to answer the questions. I was really eager to learn in an uncool way. In a super uncool way, actually.”
But in the beginning, The Bling Ring star didn’t want others to know just how similar she was to Hermione. So much so that she’d lie in her earlier interviews about her interests to tell others what she thought they’d want to hear.
“At first I was really trying to say, ‘I’m not like Hermione. I’m into fashion and I’m much cooler than she is,’ and then I came to a place of acceptance. Actually, we do have a lot in common. There are obviously differences, but there are a lot of ways that I’m very similar. And I stopped fighting that,” she added.
Emma Watson once shared she would get ‘really upset’ with how she was made to look in ‘Harry Potter’
Watson didn’t like everything about her Harry Potter role when she first started her journey as the character. In terms of her physical appearance, there were some liberties she took issues with. But this was because she was still slightly concerned with Hollywood’s standards regarding beauty.
Overtime, however, Watson would grow out of those concerns and embrace her look as Hermione.
“When I was 9 or 10, I would get really upset when they tried to make me look geeky, but now I absolutely love it,” she explained in a 2007 interview with Parade (via People). “I find it’s so much pressure to be beautiful. Hermione doesn’t care what she looks like. She’s a complete tomboy.”
To Watson, Hermione also offered an ideal role model to young girls. Especially since the character was so much unlike other celebrities at the time.
“There are too many stupid girls in the media,” Watson, said. “Hermione’s not scared to be clever. I think sometimes really smart girls dumb themselves down a bit, and that’s bad.”
Emma Watson once shared it was embarrassing watching herself in ‘Harry Potter’
Many fans watched the Beauty and the Beast actor grow and mature in the Harry Potter films. But Watson found it difficult to watch herself during those formative years. The young actor admitted that sometimes she didn’t even seem like the same person in the role.
“I look back at the early films and see that little girl — and I know it’s me but it seems like a different person,” she told Backstage. “It’s embarrassing to see myself go through the awkward stages of growing up — my hair was just enormous! So much time has passed and so much has happened that it seems I don’t know her. But it’s interesting to see how the character has evolved and how much I have changed.”
