Background

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson was born on April 15, 1990, to Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson, both lawyers, in Paris, France. She was named after her paternal grandmother, born Freda Emma Duerre who, after marriage, became Freda Emma Duerre Watson. Her parents are both British. Her brother, Alex, was born three years later.

She lived in the city till she was five years, but following the divorce of her parents; she shifted with her mother and younger brother to Oxfordshire. Her parents divorced in 1995; each parent has since remarried. On her father's side, she has a younger half-brother, Toby, born 2003, and half-sisters (identical twins) Lucy and Nina, born in 2004. Lucy and Nina played the younger version of her character Pauline in Ballet shoes (2007). She also has two stepbrothers through her mother's remarriage.

Education

From a very young age, Emma Watson dreamt of becoming an actress and took up coaching classes at the Stagecoach Theatre Arts to pursue her dreams, while attending Dragon School, in Oxford. By the age of 10, she had performed in a number of stage productions and plays. It was at the behest of her school teachers that she decided to audition for the role of Harry’s best friend, Hermione Granger.

She auditioned for the role eight times, beating all her seniors to bag the role. Interestingly, right from the audition, she won the heart of the author herself, J.K. Rowling.

She left Dragon School in 2003 and as a result of her busy filming schedules, she was tutored for her GCSE exams for over 5 hours a day. She finally cleared her GCSE examinations the following year, earning two A’s and eight A. In May 2007, she took AS levels in English, Geography, Art, and History of Art. The following year, she dropped History of Art to pursue the three A levels, receiving an A grade in each subject.

Watson took a gap year after completing secondary school, to film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows beginning in February 2009, but asserted that she intended to continue her studies and later confirmed that she had chosen Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. In March 2011, after 18 months at the university, Watson announced that she was deferring her course for "a semester or two," though she attended Worcester College, Oxford during the 2011–12 academic year as part of the Visiting Student Programme. On 25 May, she graduated from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in English literature.

In 2013, she had become certified to teach yoga and meditation. As part of this certification, she attended a week-long meditation course at a Canadian facility, in which residents are not allowed to speak, in order "to figure out how to be at home with myself."

Career

Watson had never acted professionally when her theater teachers suggested her to agents looking to cast an upcoming movie based on the first novel of the best-selling Harry Potter series. A 9-year-old Watson auditioned eight times for the role that would make her an international star. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who was deeply involved in the film process to make sure it stayed true to the book, wanted Watson involved in the project.

Watson sufficiently impressed casting agents and the film's producers and won the role of Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's smart, bossy best friend and voice of reason. Harry Potter was portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint was cast as Ron Weasley, Harry's other best friend. The trio of British child actors would become known around the globe for their roles as young wizards fighting a battle between good and evil, beginning with the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in November 2001. Watson's film debut was an enormous success: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone earned a record-breaking $33.3 million on its opening day in the United States, en route to grossing $975 million worldwide. It was nominated for three Academy Awards and seven BAFTA Awards, with Watson receiving critical praise to cement her status as an up-and-coming star.

For the next decade, Watson stayed busy filming the Potter series. She reprised the role of Hermione for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002 and for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004 and continued to star in the eight-part series through the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, in 2011.

Watson tried hard to shed her child star image, one so closely tied to the Potter franchise. As a teenager coming of age as an established movie star, Watson also emerged as a fashionista, her style catching the eye of many major figures in the fashion industry. "I love fashion. I think it's so important because it's how you show yourself to the world," she once told Teen Vogue.

In September 2009 Watson announced that she was working with People Tree, a fashion label that promotes fair trade. Watson catapulted into the world of high fashion and modeling when she was chosen as the face of Burberry's Autumn/Winter 2009 collection, and again for the 2010 Spring/Summer collection.

Watson took fans by surprise when she chopped off her long locks and debuted a pixie haircut in August 2010. The new do helped her shed the child star image of her Potter days, and in July 2011, Watson graced the cover of Vogue. The next month, she starred in a commercial for Lancôme perfume.

Although Watson became closely identified with the character of Hermione Granger, as an adolescent the young actress wanted to be seen as more. In 2007 she starred in another film based on a children's novel, Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild. The film aired on BBC One, garnering decent reviews with Watson in the lead role. In 2008 she branched out into animated work, voicing the character of Princess Pea in The Tale of Despereaux.

After the conclusion of Harry Potter, Watson was cast in My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), The Bling Ring (2013), This Is The End (2013) and Noah (2014). In 2017 she played the lead role of Belle in the live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, which became the highest-grossing live action musical of all time.

Also in 2017, Watson joined Tom Hanks and John Boyega for the thriller The Circle, which earned middling reviews despite its strong cast. Next up for the actress was the prominent role of Meg March in Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women.

In June 2020, Watson was appointed to the board of directors of Kering, the owner of various fashion brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Watson will chair Kering's sustainability committee. Kering boss François-Henri Pinault praised the new board members' "knowledge and competencies, and the multiplicity of their backgrounds and perspectives."

Achievements

• 

  Emma Watson became one of the most recognized and the most bankable Hollywood stars with a worth of over $10 million. Apart from her involvement in the Harry Potter franchise, she has appeared in The Tale of Despereaux and also starred in the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Noah.
  
  In 2002, she won the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. She won the ITV National Film Award for Best Female Performance’ for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in 2007. In February 2010, she was named Hollywood’s highest-paid female star, with an estimated $19 million the previous year.
  
  She won the Teen Choice Awards in three categories; Choice Movie: Actress Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Choice Movie Liplock, and Choice Summer Movie: Female for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, in 2011. She won the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Performance and Best Supporting Actress for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, in 2011.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower

    (Freshman Charlie is a loner until he falls under the spel...)

    2012
  • My Week With Marilyn

    (An assistant on the set of THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL do...)

    2011
  • Beauty and the Beast

    (The story and characters you love come to life in the liv...)

    2017
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

    (When Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire,...)

    2005
  • The Circle

    (Mae lands a dream job at a powerful tech company, only to...)

    2017
  • Ballet Shoes

    (The story of three orphan girls (Pauline, Petrova, and Po...)

    2007
  • Colonia

    (A woman (Emma Watson) attempts to escape a evil, torturou...)

    2015
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

    (Harry, Ron, and Hermione set out on their perilous missio...)

    2011
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

    (Lord Voldemort has returned, but the Ministry of Magic is...)

    2007
  • This Is The End

    (While attending a party at James Franco's house, Seth Rog...)

    2013
  • Little Women

    (Greta Gerwig's adaptation of the timeless and beloved sto...)

    2019
  • The Tale of Despereaux

    (An unusually brave mouse helps to restore happiness to a ...)

    2008
  • The Bling Ring

    (Based on true events, Oscar-winning filmmaker Sofia Coppo...)

    2013
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

    (Harry, Ron and Hermoine return to Hogwarts just as they l...)

    2004
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

    (After Voldemort takes over the Ministry of Magic, Harry, ...)

    2010
  • Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

    (Voldemort is tightening his grip on Hogwarts and it is no...)

    2009
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

    (Harry returns to Hogwarts, still famous and a hero when s...)

    2002
  • Noah

    (Russell Crowe stars as Noah in the timeless story of cour...)

    2014
  • Regression

    (A father is accused of a crime he has no memory of commit...)

    2015
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

    (Based on the wildly popular J.K. Rowling's book about a y...)

    2001

Religion

Emma Watson has described herself as a spiritual universalist – preferring a spiritual approach which sees the unity of all main religions and spiritual paths. She does not belong to a particular religion.

"I had a sense that I believed in a higher power, but that I was more of a Universalist."

"I see that there are these unifying tenets between so many religions and I'm really interested in those things that are more far-reaching than culture, nationality, race, or religion."

Politics

Watson has stated that Barack Obama is one of her "heroes."

In 2016, Emma Watson shared her feelings about Donald Trump's victory in the United States presidential election. Her message: Do not give up, even if the future for women looks bleak in America under Trump. She isn't.

"Today I am going to deliver Maya Angelou books to the New York subway," she said. "Then I am going to fight even harder for all the things I believe in."

Beyond her own personal desire to participate in the United States’ political process, Watson encouraged women to cast their votes citing the potential impact the results will have. "Regardless of our personal beliefs, it can’t be denied that the result of the upcoming United States presidential election will have ripple effects around the world and impact, in one way or another, the lives of millions and millions of people."

Views

In July 2014, Watson was appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and later in the year gave an address at the United Nations in New York. Her speech was part of the UN Women Campaign HeForShe which sought to try and involve more men in the campaign for equal rights between men and women. Watson sought to refresh the concept of feminism – to get away from the idea of ‘man-hating,’ but include men in the process of greater equality.

"We want to end gender inequality - and to do this we need everyone to be involved. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change." – Emma Watson, Speech at UN.

She defined feminism as: "The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes."

"Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong," – Emma Watson Speech at UN.

The speech garnered widespread international coverage and received widespread praise. However, it also led to anonymous death threats and hate mail, which caused Watson to be afraid, but also more determined to continue her work.

Watson’s beliefs stemmed from her own experiences of growing up. In particular, her disapproval of the media’s attempt to sexualize her life, at aged only 14.

Since this moment, she has participated in many events which have sought to promote women’s rights and women’s political participation.

In 2016, Watson started a feminist book club.

Quotations: "If you want to run for Prime Minister, you can. If you don’t, that’s wonderful, too. Shave your armpits, don’t shave them, wear flats one day, heels the next. These things are so irrelevant and surface to what it is all really about, and I wish people wouldn’t get caught up in that. We want to empower women to do exactly what they want, to be true to themselves, to have the opportunities to develop."

"It’s a journey and the sad thing is you only learn from experience, so as much as someone can tell you things, you have to go out there and make your own mistakes in order to learn."

"The saddest thing a girl can do is dumb herself down for a guy."

"I don’t have perfect teeth. I’m not stick thin. I want to be the person who feels great in her body and can say that she loves it and doesn’t want to change anything."

"When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of their beloved sports teams, because they didn’t want to appear muscle-y, when at 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings, I decided that I was a feminist."

"I have felt for the last 10 years I have had this battle; I’ve been fighting so hard to have an education. It’s been this uphill struggle. I was Warner Bros’ pain in the butt. I was their scheduling conflict. I was the one who made life difficult."

"Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do or achieve. Do what you want to do and be who you want to be. Just encourage and include each other, don’t ostracize the gender in front of you."

"After I gave my speech [the #HeforShe launch at the UN] there was a website threatening to release naked pictures of me. I knew it was a hoax, but I think a lot of people that were close to me knew gender equality was an issue but didn’t think it was that urgent, that it was a thing of the past. I was raging, it made me so angry, I was like, this is why I have to be doing this. If anything, if they were trying to put me off it, it did the opposite."

"I want to be a Renaissance woman. I want to paint, and I want to write, and I want to act, and I want to just do everything."

"I had a job when I was 10. I started living on my own when I was 17 or 18. I’ve earned my own money; I’ve traveled the world. What would I rebel against?"

"I threw my 20th birthday party at Brown, and I didn’t even have to say to anyone not to put pictures on Facebook. Not a single picture went up. That was when I knew I’d found a solid group of friends, and I felt like I belonged."

"It’s almost like the better I do, the more my feeling of inadequacy actually increases, because I’m just going, ‘Any moment, someone’s going to find out I’m a total fraud, and that I don’t deserve any of what I’ve achieved.’ I can’t possibly live up to what everyone thinks I am and what everyone’s expectations of me are."

"Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, instead of two sets of opposing ideals."

"I’m excited about the aging process. I’m more interested in women who aren’t perfect. They’re more compelling."

"I’m a feminist, but I think that romance has been taken away a bit for my generation. I think what people connect with in novels is this idea of an overpowering, encompassing love – and it being more important and special than anything and everything else."

"I’ve always been fascinated by Elizabeth Taylor, and I had read that her first kiss happened on a film set, which actually made me a little sad. You need to have normal experiences of your own."

"It’s amazing people get so detached from what they eat and what they wear. No one has any contact with how things are made that are put in their body and put in their mouths and I just find it alarming that no one questions it."

"I’ve always been like that; I give 100 percent. I can’t do it any other way."

"I just try and surround myself, for the biggest proportion of time that I can, with people who make me feel normal, because constantly feeling abnormal is quite difficult."

"I don’t think my dad really knew what to do with me, as a daughter. He treated me like a boy; my brother and I were treated the same. He didn’t do kid stuff. There were no kid’s menus; you weren’t allowed to order off the kid’s menu at dinner - we had to try something from the adult menu."

"I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself."

Membership

In February 2016, Watson was appointed visiting fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.

• 

  Visiting fellow

  Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University

  2016

Personality

Watson enjoys playing field hockey, netball, and tennis (for school and local teams), skiing, painting, cooking, singing, and dancing (has twice competed with her school in Rock Challenge 2006 and 2007).

She has two cats, one is named Bubbles and the other is named Domino.

Physical Characteristics: Watson has combined type ADHD and has been taking Ritalin for it since childhood.

Height: 5 ft 5 in (165 cm)

Weight: 53 kg (117 pounds)

Hair color: light brown

Distinctive features: brown hair and eyes

Measurements: 34-23-34 in (86-58.5-86 cm)

Quotes from others about the person

• Nobel Laureate, Malala Yousafzai said Watson’s speech was helpful for her to see ‘Feminism’ as something she could identify with, without negative connotations.

Interests

• Favorite food – toast
  
  Cuisine – French, Italian, Spanish
  
  Favorite TV programs – Friends (1994-2004)
  
  Favorite movie – Notting Hill (1999)
  
  Favorite color – White
  
  Favorite actor – Johnny Depp
  
  Favorite school subjects – Art, History, English
  
  Favorite Harry Potter book – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (JK Rowling in 2003)
  
  Favorite actress – Julia Roberts
  
  Favorite accessory – Lipstick
  
  Favorite perfume – Lancôme’s Trésor Midnight Rose
  
  Favorite architect – Antoni Gaudí
  
  Favorite holiday destination – Kenya
  
  Favorite hotel – Berkeley, London, England
  
  Favorite makeup products – Stila cream blush, Lancôme’s Teint Miracle, and Tarte LipSurgence pencils. Lancôme’s Hypnôse mascara
  
  Favorite cocktail – Gin and Tonic

• Politicians

  Barack Obama

• Writers

  Favorite Books – The BFG (Roald Dahl in 1982), The Remains Of The Day (Kazuo Ishiguro in 1989)
  
  Favorite writer - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

• Artists

  Tracey Emin

• Sport & Clubs

  Field hockey, gym

• Music & Bands

  Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morissette

Connections

Watson is single, which she described in 2019 with the self-coined phrase "self-partnered."

Father:

Chris Watson

Mother:

Jacqueline Luesby

Brother:

Alex Watson

Alexander Chris Watson is a British actor and model who played a Hufflepuff Student in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

colleague:

Rupert Grint

Rupert Alexander Lloyd Grint is a British actor and producer.

colleague:

Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Radcliffe is an English actor and producer. He rose to international stardom as Harry Potter in the series of films based on the hugely popular books by J.K. Rowling.

colleague:

Tom Felton

(born 22 September 1987)

Tom Felton is an English actor and musician.

colleague:

Matthew Lewis

Matthew David Lewis is an English film, television, and stage actor, best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films, Jamie Bradley in The Syndicate, and Corporal Gordon "Towerblock" House in the BBC Three comedy-drama Bluestone 42.

colleague:

Bonnie Wright

(born 17 February 1991)

Bonnie Francesca Wright is an English actress, fashion model, screenwriter, director and producer. She is best known for playing Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films.

colleague:

Robert Pattinson

(born 13 May 1986)

Robert Pattinson is an English actor, model and musician.

colleague:

Maggie Smith

(born 28 December 1934)

Maggie Smith is an English actress.

colleague:

Richard Harris

(1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002)

Richard Harris was an Irish actor and singer.

colleague:

Evanna Lynch

(born 16 August 1991)

Evanna Lynch is an Irish actress, vegan activist, podcast host, and narrator.

colleague:

Gary Oldman

(born 21 March 1958)

Gary Oldman is an English actor and filmmaker who has performed in theatre, film, and television.

colleague:

Alan Rickman

(21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016)

Alan Rickman was an English actor and director.

References

• Emma Watson - Instagram
• Emma Watson: Actress, Women's Rights Activist, and Goodwill Ambassador
• Emma Watson: The Biography
• Emma Watson: Actress and Activist
• Glamour Magazine
• Emma Watson: Women's Rights Activist (Women Leading the Way)
• Celebrity Influencers Emma Watson