'Felt caged': Emma Watson explains her long acting break
MANILA, Philippines — Actress Emma Watson has cleared up her reasons as to why she has not acted since 2019's "Little Women," dispelling any rumors that she had retired from performing.
In an interview with Financial Times (FT) about the wine venture of her family, Emma touched on her five-year absence from acting. She wrapped filming on Greta Gerwig's Oscar-nominated movie in 2018.
"I wasn't very happy, if I'm being honest. I think I felt a bit caged," Emma told FT over lunch.
The actress said she found it really hard to "go out and sell something that I really didn’t have very much control over," particularly when facing journalists asking about how a film aligns with her views.
"I was held accountable in a way that I began to find really frustrating, because I didn't have a voice, I didn’t have a say," Emma continued. "I started to realize that I only wanted to stand in front of things where if someone was going to give me flak about it, I could say, in a way that didn’t make me hate myself, 'Yes, I screwed up, it was my decision, I should have done better.'"
But Emma hasn't completely stepped away from cameras since "Little Women," having written and starred in a fragance advertising campaign for Prada last year in what was her directorial debut.
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Emma shared that even during her time on "Harry Potter" where she starred as fan favorite Hermione Granger, people were telling her to direct or produce but worried about the technicalities of them.
The actress teased that her next directorial project is a music video for a male artist whose name she would not reveal, "You will definitely have heard of him."
"Yes, absolutely. But I'm happy to sit and wait for the next right thing. I love what I do," Emma said on her potential return to acting. "It's finding a way to do it where I don't have to fracture myself into different faces and people. And I just don't want to switch into robot mode any more."
FT noted that Emma began writing poetry and essays during the COVID-19 pandemic and will start a master's degree in creative writing at Oxford University this September. She will also be shooting a new film in early 2024.
Between the last "Harry Potter" film and "Little Women," Emma starred in films such as "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Bling Ring," "My Week with Marilyn" and "Noah."
Emma also appeared in the "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" television special last year where she reunited with several cast and crew from the popular fantasy franchise.
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