Emma Watson has not appeared in a film since 2019’s “Little Women,” but she has not officially stepped away from the acting scene.
“I don’t see myself as having stepped away from acting,” Emma Watson, 33, expressed to British Vogue in an interview published on Thursday, January 25. “I just see myself as wanting to expand what I do and being able to be in things that I have written or directed or produced.”
She elaborated on her foray into writing and directing, describing it as a “really amazing” experience. Watson began exploring these roles while at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I just realized how much I loved it and that I wanted to keep doing that,” she added. “And so I study now as well.”
In 2022, Watson marked her directorial debut with a short film, part of an ad campaign for the Prada Paradox fragrance. Her next aspiration involves taking on a role in a project she has personally written. “To direct something that I’d written one day, that would make me pretty excited,” she told British Vogue.
However, she doesn’t anticipate an immediate return to the silver screen. “To be at the start of a project takes time,” she emphasized. “Films can be decades in the making, finding it and writing it and putting it together. I don’t see it as a closing down. I see it as an opening up.”
In the meantime, Watson has directed her attention to launching a gin, named Renais, alongside her brother Alex Watson. She continues her advocacy for gender equality and sustainability.
Reflecting on her break from acting in 2019, Watson candidly shared, “I felt a bit caged. I wasn’t very happy, if I’m being honest,” in an interview with the Financial Times in April 2023.
“The thing I found really hard was that I had to go out and sell something that I really didn’t have very much control over,” she said. “To stand in front of a film and have every journalist be able to say, ‘How does this align with your viewpoint?’ It was very difficult to have to be the face and the spokesperson for things where I didn’t get to be involved in the process.”
Elaborating on her sentiments, she stated, “I love what I do. 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 to robot mode anymore. Does that make sense?”
A significant project she embraced was Max’s “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” in 2022, reuniting Watson with her Potter castmates, including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Tom Felton. However, she and Felton, 33, have emphasized maintaining their connection over the years.
