I’m not single, I’m self-partnered, says Harry Potter star
FIRST came “conscious uncoupling”, a description of divorce that was introduced to the world by Gwyneth Paltrow.
Now comes a new celebrity term for singledom. Emma Watson has announced that she is not single: she is “self-partnered”.
The 29-year-old actress told Vogue magazine that pressure to have a husband and a baby by the time she turned 30 had left her feeling anxious, but she had now come to terms with it.
“I was like, ‘Why does everyone make such a big fuss about turning 30? This is not a big deal…’ Cut to 29, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I feel so stressed and anxious’,” she said.
“And I realise it’s because there is suddenly this bloody influx of subliminal messaging around. If you have not built a home, if you do not have a husband, if you do not have a baby, and you are turning 30, and you’re not in some incredibly secure, stable place in your career, or you’re still figuring things out… there’s just this incredible amount of anxiety.”
She went on: “I never believed the whole ‘I’m happy single’ spiel. I was like, ‘This is totally spiel.’ It took me a long time, but I’m very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered.”
The Harry Potter actress was previously in a relationship with an American actor and singer called Chord Overstreet. Last month, she was pictured in the tabloids kissing a “mystery man”.
There was excitement among Potter fans recently when Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the wizarding
‘If you do not have a husband, and you are turning 30, there’s just this incredible amount of anxiety’
‘With my character in ‘Little Women’, her way of being a feminist is making the choice that she wants to be a full-time mother and wife’
films, posted a picture on social media of himself and Watson together in their pyjamas. However, they are just friends.
Watson plays Meg March in a new Hollywood adaptation of Little Women, which is released in the UK next month. She is known for campaigning on women’s issues, and said that her character, a wife and homemaker, could be viewed through a feminist lens.
She said: “With Meg’s character, her way of being a feminist is making the choice – because that’s really, for me anyway, what feminism is about. Her choice is that she wants to be a fulltime mother and wife.”
Saoirse Ronan plays Jo March, the most headstrong of the sisters, in the film. “To Jo, being married is really some sort of prison sentence,” said Watson. “But Meg says, ‘You know, I love him and I’m really happy and this is what I want. And just because my dreams are different from yours, it doesn’t mean they’re unimportant.’”
The adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s much-loved novel co-stars Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen as Amy and Beth March, Laura Dern as Marmee and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.
Watson said: “What was really nice about working with Laura Dern and Meryl Streep was that the three of us knew each other way before we did Little Women. We met in activist spaces, so we had this allyship and solidarity as activists that had been part of a certain movement before we ever worked together.”
The full interview is in the December issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and news-stands on Friday.