Emma Watson is on the cover of Interview magazine. All the shots are black and white but and as Emma is dressed in sort of a 1960s London throwback, it feels like you’re leafing through vintage pictures. I’d wished she’d smiled a bit more but overall I like the editorial. Emma is interviewed by fellow actor Jessica Chastain by phone. The start of the interview is basically the two of them catching up. The fact that they are friends is stated in the intro and is obvious throughout. Through the first few questions it’s established that Emma is in the bathtub in Paris where she is working. Jessica is also in a hotel but we don’t know where, although she said “There are bags of hair extensions and makeup and clothes everywhere.” So I assume she is also working. Ah, the glamour of it all. You can read the full interview here. Much of the interview focuses on the scrutiny under which Emma lives and how she worries about how she is perceived.
“Dan[iel Radcliffe], Rupert [Grint], and I were kids when we got cast in this fairy-tale series, and what happened to us was kind of a fantasy story in itself,” Watson told Jessica Chastain for Interview Magazine’s new cover story.
“So the story of my life has been of public interest, which is why I’ve been so passionate about having a private identity,” she explained. “When I step into a character, people have to be able to suspend their disbelief; they have to be able to divorce me from that girl. And not having everyone know every single intimate detail of my entire life is part of me trying to protect my ability to do my job well.”
Protecting that identity can be daunting, but without it, Watson knows her career would suffer. “I know that I’m under a different microscope, a certain level of scrutiny, which I find really hard at times,” she revealed.
“And sometimes the fear of doing things is overwhelming. I get incredibly overwhelmed, and sometimes feel hemmed in by that, afraid of that,” she added. “But I know that if I live in that fear, then my life as an artist, as a human being, really, is over. Ultimately, it will silence me, and it will silence what is in me — which I have yet to explore and uncover.”
That fear wasn’t always there. When she was cast in Harry Potter, Watson said she remembered having “this fearlessness.” Now, as she faces more challenges in the spotlight, she’s made sure to push through her reservations. “Like in Beauty and the Beast, I sang for the first time,” she explained, adding, “And journalists would ask me, ‘Do you think you’re going to be able to pull it off?’”
Emma’s “overwhelmed” comments were in response to Jessica’s question, “I’ve learned so much about acting and theater and films—life in general—from making mistakes. Do you feel the freedom to do that?” Emma uses someone else’s quote or story to introduce many of her points in the interview. She admits she must “talk everything out” and get everyone’s opinion before making decisions. Reading these comments makes me think Emma is an aural learner, if using the VARK Modalities. I too am an aural learner so I empathize with her. Aural learners often don’t know what point we are trying to make until we’ve said our thoughts out loud. As a result, many times what we say at first is not what we mean. It becomes easier to remain silent. Ultimately, silence can feel like the loss of “fearlessness,” just as Emma said. I always had trouble reconciling how playful Emma was in live interviews vs. her more serious print pieces but after reading this, I see her in a whole new light. People were shocked she would prioritize her education over her acting career and it seemed a bit lofty to take a year off to learn about feminism but in truth, I think she needs breathers from time to time.
Later in the interview, Emma talks about having had a hard couple of weeks and a friend of hers advises, “You need to feel sh–ty for a day or two and be angry and upset and hurt and grieve a little bit… You need to cry a bit and get angry.” That sounds a little like a break-up, doesn’t it? I wonder if she and Mack Knight are done? That would be too bad, I thought they suited each other well.
Photo credit: Peter Lindbergh/Interview Magazine and WENN Photos
she needs to grow up it’s part of the profession she chose deal with it or find another
This. I like Emma and I think she’s very aware of the power of her celebrity and I appreciate her social activism instead of being a fashion girl like Blake.
That said, I think she should loosen up a bit. She said in another interview that she refuses selfies to older fans but she will take pix with younger fans. Emma, you had an incredible opportunity as a child and now you have an amazing life and career. It takes 2 seconds to just acknowledge people who love you whether they are 2 or 22.
I think she will loosen up as she gets older.
If you are an introvert or have some degree of social anxiety you don’t just “loosen up” because others think you should or even if you want to. It doesn’t work like that. What happens is that we find mechanisms to cope with it and deal with it, but it doesn’t really go away, it’s more about masking it and not give it enough space to affect our lives that much.
I don’t even like her as an actress or a public persona, but just because someone chose a career that exacerbates some insecurities or “inadequacies” it doesn’t mean they aren’t aloud to feel like they do or even talk about it. She isn’t complaining, she is explaining it. Many people who aren’t actors/celebs struggle with the same things and that has very little to do with “growing up” or “loosen up”.
@AfricanSun, I met Keanu Reeves last month and took a selfie with him, and after meeting him, I really wish all celebs would just shut up when they complain about selfies, fame, etc. Keanu has been famous for all of Emma’s life and is so gracious and patient with fans. He’s in Canada now filming a movie and is taking dozens of selfies daily. You need an almost godlike patience to do this, but he does and seems to enjoy meeting people. Maybe it might be scarier to take photos if you’re a female celeb rather than a male celeb, but when I think about Keanu, I feel like these other stars should just shut the F up.
Oh so just bc some celebs feel comfortable doing it and may even enjoy it then all the others who don’t should shut the f*ck up?! Because apparently they are all ungrateful bastards? Can you just stop for a while and try some empathy?
@Miss S, I think I have some empathy for Emma, but I also think it’s important to be kind to the folks who’ve made you famous. I think people like Keanu recognize this. He definitely doesn’t come across as extroverted but has been gracious to fans since he was Emma’s age because he knows he wouldn’t be successful without them. I think Keanu has a great deal of empathy for his fans. I’m far from an extrovert and wouldn’t like strangers touching me, wanting to take pics, etc., but if I was an entertainer, I certainly would. I do things all the time that make me uncomfortable, being an introvert in a culture that values extroversion. Emma can complain all she wants about fame, but I think it’s bad form to do so publicly. Just my opinion.
you took what she said way out of context. She said she doesn’t take pictures in general, because when people post it on social media, others can track down where she is and find her more easily (because they know what she’s wearing). I took it as she gets mobbed.
However, she takes pictures with people who are huge fans or little kids, every time she feels like it means a lot to them.
Honestly, I understand why so many celebrities are talking about this picture thing. I would get pissed off to, if everyone was using me like a cardboard cutout. Let’s face it: most people just want that picture to look cool and brag about it.
If you’re really a fan and admire that person you would much rather have a chat with them, wouldn’t you?
@WTW Your Keanu story made my day. Love him and I lived for that glimpse of him and Larry Fishburne in the John Wick trailer. Great guy.
I think Emma is overthinking her fame too much. Take the damn pic, it’s not a big deal. I think at the very least she should take pix with Potter fans.
Photos contain geotracking information. If someone takes a photo and immediately posts it, the world knows exactly where she is. As someone who has been stalked before, I do not blame her for being overly careful.
It’s not two seconds if it’s a hundred people a day. And nowadays everyone tweets “ooh just seen so-and-so in Covent Garden Pret” or whatever and within ten minutes every fan in the area has descended just to try to see that person.
I remember an incident with David Tennant where he and his wife took their kids to an amusement park, a creepy fan twitter that tries to pass itself off as being official tweeted a sighting, and a load of fans descended. The fan account was live-RTing all the sightings and it all snowballed to the point everyone on Twitter could basically track his movements around the park in real time. He had his baby strapped to him but was still having fans coming up asking for selfies, by people who had intentionally come to the park to stalk him.
I don’t mean to be snobbish but I think people who don’t work in the industry just can’t imagine the sheer scale of the attention, or the pushiness of many fans. I have friends who are a lot less famous than Emma but they still have to deal with hordes of people and people following them and their families around. If you don’t set firm boundaries it would be completely unmanageable.
“Celebrity is overwhelming!”
*takes lead role in a high-profile Disney movie*
Alrighty then.
She’s becoming quite whiney and while she’s not a very good actress she does seem like a genuine and nice person.
Do you get overwhelmed by your work or life sometimes? We all do. Emma Watson is a human being, allowed to have her own feelings and thoughts like everyone else on the planet. She was asked questions about her experiences, and she answered thoughtfully and honestly. Just because she chose to return to acting after taking time off to transition into adulthood doesn’t mean she should become a robot in public. She’s not complaining. She’s responding thoughtfully about her own particular experiences and acknowledging she has unusual privilege.
Some people have more introverted, serious personalities than others. I’d rather she BE that — her authentic self — than the superficial fake personas many young actresses feel compelled to take on.
Emma strikes me as someone who cares more about artistry than fame and stardom. And acting is absolutely an art when taken seriously. She’s trying to live her public life with integrity and responsibility. Personally, I think she rocks. You do you, Emma Watson. Be a badass feminist and keep using your influence for the good.
Exactly. Thanks.
Because a multi million Disney movie is the peak of artistry. She cares about fame, let’s not pretend otherwise.
She can get overwhelmed by her job, but her job is not a regular one. The pros outweigh the cons by such a huge margin so I think celebrities should be very careful not to come across as whiney or ungrateful, at least to the public. Especially those who rely on their persona, like Emma, and not their talent.
And while I’m sure she cares about feminism, it is a huge part of her PR. Same with her education.
God, I can’t believe I’m going to defend this girl, but I feel like I have to. No, she doesn’t have a “regular job”, she has one where she has to deal with things most of us will never have to deal with and being well paid for it or the fact that she chose it doesn’t make any difference.
I don’t like her persona, I agree that she isn’t as smart as she tries to come across as and that it is mostly PR, but that doesn’t mean she can’t feel overwhelmed by the whole context of her work. She was asked a question and being known is clearly something that affects her life in many ways. She isn’t allowed to talk abt it when asked?
When people get all tight abt a celeb talking abt the experience of being famous it seems to me it’s all about envy because they are rich. The lack of goodwill and the amount of vitriol in all of this is really surprising to me.
She is allowed to talk about it, but when talking to the press she has to chose her words. If this was a one off it would be fine, but she constantly complains about fame while simultaniously courting it. The fame, money, privileges etc. come with the scrutiny. It’s quid pro quo. But most celebrities want to have their cake and eat it too.
And yes, there are a lot of hardships money can cushion, let’s not pretend otherwise.
@Kate, have you noticed how many things people say in interviews that doesn’t get the traction it could have? Have you noticed that anything she says about fame is used to sell and promote an interview?
I’m well aware of the hypocrisy of most celebs abt this subject, but what seh is sharing is pretty mild and astonishes me so many jumping at her for it. And yes, money helps a lot and guarantees she won’t have to worry abt a lot of things but saying it as a justification of why she shouldn’t say anything abt it reminds of depressed people who are told they shouldn’t be depressed because they have all they need in their lives while others don’t have the luxury of being depressed.
Emma may have to deal with things most of us don’t, but she has privileges most of us will never have. So Boo Hoo Emma. My sympathy isn’t for a woman who CHOSE to just be in a big high profile Disney movie – it is for the people in wars, or poverty or have no jobs or health insurance.
Are celebrities really so out of touch that that don’t get on their hands and knees every single day and thank the Universe for their fortune which allows them to vacation without the peasants around (St Bart’s) and live behind guarded walls in a luxury 99.9999999% of the world will never see. And if the stress of fans is too much, why doesn’t she become an maid or teacher or dentist? Julia Roberts used to complain like this and I had no sympathy for her either. Either do the job happily and shut up or quit. Cause she has the $$ to never have to work again.
If she took The Art of Acting so seriously then she would either a.) enrol in further acting lessons, or b.) give up the charade entirely. There are far more talented, charismatic young actresses out there who would bring more to her roles than lucky success as a child actor.
Also: I am definitely introverted and sometimes too serious — her comments are nothing to do with either quality. She’s lacking self-awareness and perspective. Though to be fair, I do I think she may have simply gotten a bit carried away by the whole Serious Actress game while being interviewed by an older, far more talented actress.
Also also: Kata’s comment is on point.
Thank you. She’s not exactly doing us all a favour by continuing to act — eternally lol’ing at the fact that she considers herself an artist. If it’s too much then she can always put her education to use in another profession. If not, she can stop complaining in interviews.
She is a terrible actress, sooo bland… The best thing about Beauty and the beast was Luke Evans. I loved Gaston and Lefou.
She must be one of the worst actresses out there, she is lucky to have any celebrity to deal with at all, she’s been stealing a living since she was a kid.
I agree with this. She’s not a good actress. I like Emma. I find her looks to be quite darling and doll like, but what happens to her as she ages? She’s not as talented as say Natalie Portman or even Keira Knightley. She has so much competition in her age group as well. She needs to embrace her fans
And fame, or she’s going to find herself without a career.
That’s why her post HP fame is based on her persona, not her talent or acting ability. I can see her becoming a philantropist or activist later, ala Angelina Jolie.
I have to disagree there. I recently came across “Colonia Dignidad” and I have to say that I had no trouble with her acting. Though I agree with u on Harry Potter, but she is promising.
Yes! Someone said it! With Emma, I feel like Mugatu whe no one else can see that Zoolander only has one look.
“I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!!!”
She is a shockingly poor actor, even allowing for the British stiff upper lip woodenness
This. I’m mostly impressed with Emma as a person – for the amount of privilege and money she had at a young age, she seems fairly grounded. She does good work off camera.
But she is not a good actress. I was excited about her being cast as Belle, but after seeing the movie (which was so very overrated), I’m not impressed with her acting. She was miscast as Belle, which wasn’t helped by her looking so much younger than both Dan Stevens and Luke Evans.
So while I do find the idea of celebrity terrifying and appreciate the strain it puts on people, part of me feels like: if you hate the fame, go away. You have enough money and other opportunities to do anything you want. Let talented actresses without your money and connections have a shot at those big roles.
Same thing with Julia Roberts, when she used to complain about her fame. I wrote her a letter (before emails!) and said, “If you don’t like the fame, become a dental assistant. Or a teacher. Or lawyers. Or shut up.”
They have fame, but also the resources to mostly protect themselves from the problems of that fame. So my sympathy is really nonexistent for these multi-millionaires who only work a few weeks a year for that $$. Sad.
I also think that if she’s concerned about her privacy and about fans mobbing her or tracking her or whatever, she should take that into consideration when it comes to picking her projects. It’s obvious that choosing to take on the role of a Disney princess is a bad idea for an introvert who doesn’t want an increase in the number of fans who would want to take pictures with her! Maybe she could pick projects instead that wouldn’t provide her with too much overwhelming public attention. Seems a no-brainer to me.
I honestly think that Emma strikes me as someone who wishes she had the temperament and personality to live a very different life from the one best suited to her natural temperament and personality. I don’t look down on that. In fact, I can empathize, because I’m an introvert who loves trying risky new challenges in an effort to grow. But the cost of doing so is that I can often feel so overwhelmed. She’s young. Slowly, she’ll learn that it’s a balance. If you decide to go all-out, then the consequences can be difficult to bear sometimes.
She’s been going on for years about how unimpressed she is with celebrity and how she just wants to be treated like a regular person, yet she showed up to her first-year orientation at Brown in a helicopter.
Or she could wind up like most child actors: drug addicted, discarded, damaged, jaded or dead. Or — God help us — Scott Baio. Or — God help us — Goop describing how to steam clean your vag. Give her time to figure out who she is and how she wants to live in the midst of significant publicity. She is going to sound unlike most young adults her age because she’s lived a very unusual life. I’m inclined to give her a break.
Tangent: This is a hard time globally & politically for nearly everyone, including most of us on these message boards, particularly if we’re in a marginalized population. There are a lot of scary people trying to rule the world. I’m inclined to give all of us here a little extra slack to mess up, be frightened, get angry, feel worried and project those feelings on to other, easier targets. There’s an undercurrent of anxiety in compassionate people of all backgrounds. Emma has worked with the U.N. and other organizations to use her influence positively.
People of well-meaning hearts might be better off if we stick together and let go of petty complaints about an actor feeling overwhelmed by her public role. I submit this with genuine respect for all of you.
She has the world by the tail but she seems so unhappy all the time.
I agree. She basically has everything and its probably a reason why she feels that way because she feels like she should be super happy. I dont think she is cut out to be famous. Thats a crazy life and who really survives that anyway? I hope she does some good with her fame and then lives a quiet life.
I can also understand her not wanting to “give up” because everyone basically wants her to fail because people love to fake their concern for child stars but deep down take a sick pleasure and seeing the predictions of failure and drug addiction come true. With Beauty and the Beast she at least is free of her old character.
I dont even really like her, she is better than most celebs to me but I almost feel sorry for this super lucky young women, she almost seems close to break down because its all too much and she isnt even constantly in the press or hounded by the tabloids.
It’s springtime but still this snowflake won’t melt.
I’m sure she means well but I’m afraid I’m allergic to precious.
lol I love you Sixer
i think what Emma wants more than anything is to be taken seriously by the real power players and be a genuine power in her own right. She wants to be someone making decisions, being part of back-room deals and being able to leverage her fame into real power. A lot of celebs want to be taken seriously after being famous and rich for a while. Clooney clearly is addicted to doing this very thing and I wager Emma is dying to have her posturing evolve into substance.
She did that UN feminism speech, but it hasn’t gotten her onto the world stage and she seems at a loss over what to do with herself. Her degree is very generic and I doubt she has the stamina to sustain a long term study of diplomacy and get a lot of material gain from that.
I agree with what you said. She really does want to be taken seriously as an actress and activist. Daniel Radcliffe has managed it quite well but he has worked really hard at his craft – i saw him recently on the London stage and his acting has come a long way since Harry Potter. He’s a good actor and so is Rupert Grint. Emma was always the weakest of all the child actors in the series. Dan is the one that gets the most media attention, Emma and Rupert not so much.
It all boils down to having thick skin – something am not sure she’s developed yet. Plus it doesn’t help that she often comes off as someone who lives in a bubble.
I love Daniel Radcliffe. He is a bit short on raw talent but he’s not afraid to put in the work to make the most of what he does have. And he is serious without being precious.
Talking about going to Gloria Steinem for a blessing to play Belle is taking herself way too seriously. Chrissake it’s a children’s film and I am sick of her trying to turn a film into some esoteric spiritual journey. She has a great life and hasn’t had to pay half the dues that a lot of actresses have had to pay. She has her issues, but they are first world problems.
I find her incredibly underwhelming.
Despite all her wealth and fame, I think she’s strange for posturing seriously. She would be a lot more likeable if she talked about how she loves her life and how she’s so glad that she has all she does. She strikes me as WANTING to be a world icon, in the degree of Princess Diana and I do believe that she would love nothing more than to be presiding over the UN as a first female Secretary-General. She’s clearly unsatisfied with riches and fame and an easy life compared to so many. POsturing however won’t get her anywhere other than ornamental causes.
Please Emma PR team stop !! She prefers Disney to have fame and money than a good role in La La Land (when she didn’t accept the role the movie wasn’t so famous and the badget was so bad). She is a bad actress so she is trying to have more fans -.-
She wouldn’t be so overwhelmed if she didn’t try so hard to be oh so intellectual and determined to be taken seriously.