Hermoine

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson has had an incredible few years. At the age of 15, she has accomplished what most actors (and normal people like us!) can only dream of. What's most remarkable is that, despite all of her achievements, she's still kept her feet firmly on the ground and lives a normal life away from the showbiz world.

Where did it all begin? Well, Emma was born to parents Jaqueline and Chris (who are now divorced) on April 15th 1990 in Oxfordshire, England. Emma's parents moved to France shortly after she was born, and continued to live there for five years (until Emma was five) before they returned to England. Emma also has a younger sibling, Alex, who is three years younger than her.

Way before she got the role of Hermione, Emma showed her continuing interest in acting by appearing in many school plays. 'Arthur: The Younger Years', 'The Swallow and The Prince', 'The Happy Prince', and 'Alice in Wonderland' were a collection of the productions she took part in. The Dragon school, a top boarding and day prep school in the UK, was where Emma learned the basics of her acting skills.

At the Dragon school it very much seems that Emma excelled, as she received The Daisy Pratt Poetry Award at the age of seven. It's not hard to see the similarities between Emma and Hermione, and this is undoubtedly something which casting directors picked up on when she auditioned for the role in the Harry Potter films. It's amazing to think that the very talented youngster who portrayed Hermione in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone had absolutely no prior professional acting experience!!

As merely more than a hopeful when she auditioned for the part of Hermione, when she was officially told she had the part, she couldn't believe it! Looking back on when she was cast as Hermione, Emma said:

"I rang my best friend, just as I'd been told, literally minutes after I'd been told, I rung my friend and she answered and she said: 'So have you got it?' And I said: 'Yes!!' And she screamed, she literally just went arghhh - it was like five minutes, I had to hold the phone here, not to be able to break my ear and she was so excited she was almost more excited than me. -- They actually brought me to the studio and sat me down with Rupert and told me "You got the part" and I just stood there going blank for like 5 minutes until it really sunk in. I was like oh my gosh, is this a dream? Someone pinch me."

And who could blame her? At the age of 11, she was about to be thrown into the spotlight.

One Take Watson

When the first Harry Potter film premiered, it was unbelievable how the trio complemented each other. Emma was perfect as the book-smart character of Hermione. Being a big fan of the Harry Potter books, it was important to Emma that she kept her character true to form. On speaking of what drew her to the part of Hermione, Emma said:

"It was sort of hard being the only girl in a film for six months. Hermione's got to be very 'nose up'. I think that's the whole of her charisma. If she didn't have that, she'd be normal and it's what creates her really. The fact that she's so 'Well, I'm right and you're wrong'. I love that in her."

The love of the character really showed, and Emma was able to complete many scenes in one take, earning her the nickname; "One Take Watson".

Being so young when she was making the first film, Emma could really relish the storylines. She listed the Troll scene as her favourite and loved the fact that, as the only girl in the trio, she was constantly having the upper hand against her two male co-stars. She said:

"I liked the line at the end where I said: "I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed or worse expelled!"
And another one was where I said: "Honestly you're going to take someone's eye out!" Hermione always has some really snooty lines for Ron, I think Ron gets the worst of it really."

The pressure was on for the trio to make an impact in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but they couldn't have made it look easier! Despite saying:
"I might as well have been in the army. It was really hard work. I think that day I swallowed 50% dust and 50% food, it was that tough. It was clear that the hard work paid off, as the first film gathered millions more fans to the Harry Potter following.

Being thrust into the spotlight in such a way could prove very scary for many of us, but Emma seemed to take it all in her stride and savour it for what it was - fun. As filming for the second film drew nearer, Emma showed her excitement by commenting: "The thing I'm looking forward to most in the second film is probably how they're going to make me look like a cat, that'll be very interesting."

Part Deux

Amazingly, filming for Chamber of Secrets began three days after Philosopher's Stone had been released! Although, with the first film now under their belt, all of the cast, including Emma, were much more at ease with the process of filming. By now, Emma was even more confident playing Hermione and continued to deliver a teriffic performance.

Of course, working with some of the UK's finest actors couldn't have hurt ;) Joining the cast for Chamber of Secrets was Kenneth Branagh, who Emma described as "a really nice guy", and of course, Robbie Coltrane was also back in the role of Hagrid. As Emma got further into filming, her acting abilities grew and grew. The experience served her well as she faced the challenges of the second film. Of the mudblood storyline (which deals with racial issues) Emma said:

"It was quite hard - I just tried to forget about everyone else. The fact that she was a mudblood and this whole racism and prejudice against her made her a very interesting part to play. I really enjoyed doing that scene because it really tested me. I just tried to keep my eyes open for a long time and not blink and then think of the saddest thing I could and it just happened really."

By this time Emma was putting Hermione forward as the heroine of the trio, the character's importance was highlighted at the end of Chamber of Secrets when she made a grand return to the Great Hall. All of the trio were gathering a universal following, and the hysteria only grew as the second film approached it's release.

Speaking about the fame which the Harry Potter films had brought her, Emma said:

"Most people are really nice but some stare, like you're some kind of zoo exhibit and not a real person with real feelings. Even when you take away all the glamour and attention and premieres and everything, it still comes down to the fact that I'm acting."

Bound for Azkaban

Changes galore were happening for the third Harry Potter film, Prisoner of Azkaban. With Spanish director Alfonso Cuaron on board, Emma was given the opportunity to expand her thoughts on the character of Hermione, and add some of her own personality into the film. What's funny is that, when she was asked to write an essay about the character of Hermione, Emma wrote 16 pages (!!!), although she does have "big handwriting"!

Whatever happens though, we're in no doubt that Emma will deliver a fantastic performance in the upcoming film, and will continue to be a favourite of ours for a long time to come