Emma Watson: Love, lust and fairytales
Why she was drawn to a Disney beauty
After seven movies playing bossy young sorceress Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise, Emma Watson knew she could afford to wait for the right role.
Unlike her co-star Daniel Radcliffe, who has worked non-stop since the magical movie saga ended in 2011, the 26-year-old star has been largely missing in action on the big screen, even turning
down another Disney fairytale lead role, in 2015’s Cinderella, because the character wasn’t a strong female role model.
However, when outspoken feminist Emma was offered the part of Belle in the live-action remake of the 1991 animated classic Beauty and the Beast, the English rose couldn’t resist, despite her fear of taking on another personal hero.
“Before I was cast in the films, I was a big fan of the
Harry Potter books too and
it definitely adds another layer of pressure,” explains Emma, speaking to Woman’s
Day on a sun-drenched hotel rooftop in Beverly Hills.
“I had these moments on the Beauty and the Beast set where I felt the pressure from my seven-year-old self because the original film was sacred to me and I’d watched it ad nauseam as a child – to the point where my parents wished I would watch something else!”
Beastly days
Her obsession stemmed from the fact she identified so strongly with Belle, who is an outcast in her small country town. “At school, I felt that if I didn’t fit in, then there was nothing else and that’s a really difficult feeling,” tells Emma.
In the hope of inspiring young people who now feel the way she did, the actress adds, “I’d say for anyone who feels like an outsider, there is a big, wide world out there, with so many different people with diverse opinions, perspectives and interests. Go out there and find your kindred spirits – they do exist!”
Asked if she really thinks it’s possible that a beautiful young woman could fall in love with an ugly beast, Emma jumps to the defence of the film’s message of not judging a book by its cover.
“I do think that love can transcend the physical appearance,” she argues. “Of course, there is an initial chemistry of, ‘Oh, that person is handsome,’ but it doesn’t last very long. Ultimately, what keeps you interested and engaged with somebody else is the values that you share, the conversations that you can have, and their ability to teach you things about yourself and about the world, and how that person makes you feel.”
Despite the HarryPotter films making her one of the richest young women in showbiz, and the fact Beauty
andtheBeast is likely to net her at least $21 million, Emma downplays her financial good fortune.
“I didn’t do HarryPotter as a child because I wanted to earn money,” she insists. “I did it because it was magical and I loved the world. It was an honour and that is how I feel about being part of this film too.
The original film was sacred to me ... I’d watched child’ it ad nauseam as a
I am in a lucky position where I know that I am comfortable and that gives me an incredible freedom, but beyond that, it doesn’t define who I am.”
She’s cagey about her personal life and despite rumours of an upcoming engagement, Emma has never publicly confirmed she’s dating her boyfriend of 18 months, 35-year-old US tech entrepreneur William “Mack” Knight, whose mother has publicly given her the seal of approval.
“The ability to have a private life is incredibly important to me,” Emma says unapologetically. “I don’t want to live behind bars or gates. I want to be able to live in a community and have a normal life, so I never make it public where or with whom I am spending my time.”
While she won’t dish about her own prince, the actress unintentionally reveals what she’s looking for while talking about Beauty and the Beast’s love story.
“The fact that the Beast chooses to let Belle go and he sacrifices something of his own wellbeing for hers, that is what love is,” she says dreamily. “It’s caring about somebody else’s wellbeing as much as you care about your own and that is not easy to do, but it’s an incredibly special quality and trait.”