Emma Watson (26 page)

Producer David Heyman admitted he was baffled as to why BAFTA had so far not found a space for Harry Potter in its heart: ‘It’s really wonderful that it’s the whole franchise being recognised and it’s a collective award. Each film has anywhere between 2,000 and 6,000 people working on it and so really the award is for each and every one of us. We are like a family.’

Emma made quite a splash that BAFTA weekend in February 2011. She attended several pre-awards parties in the run-up to the ceremony, including one at the Almada Bar in Mayfair to celebrate the success of Colin Firth and
The King’s Speech
. But it was Emma who made the morning papers, dressed in a £1,700 leather Burberry coat and sporting a slightly longer version of her famed pixie cut. She then went to the nearby Mahiki nightclub, arriving in the back of film mogul Harvey Weinstein’s Rolls-Royce. When she left at 3am, Emma was in danger of being mobbed by autograph hunters and photographers. Harvey Weinstein – clearly looking to protect one of his prize assets – took hold of Emma and guided her safely through the crowd.

The following night she was at another pre-awards party, this time at Mark’s Club, again in Mayfair. The normally cautious Emma was caught out by photographers
as she arrived at this private members’ club – pictures of her showing more flesh than she’d intended appeared in the following day’s papers: W
HAT SHE WOULDN’T GIVE FOR A
C
LOAK OF
I
NVISIBILITY RIGHT NOW!
E
MMA
W
ATSON FLASHES AFTER ‘WARDROBE MALFUNCTION
’, crowed one headline the next morning.

On Sunday, 13 February, Emma arrived at the BAFTAs ceremony itself at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. She was there to present the award for Outstanding British Film to the makers of
The King’s Speech
(which would go on, at the end of February, to win four Oscars: Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor for Firth and Best Director for Tom Hooper;
Deathly Hallows Part 1
was nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects, but would not win an Oscar). Emma was also part of the Potter party to receive a BAFTA for the franchise’s contribution to the industry. On the red carpet, she stood with J. K. Rowling, who described Emma as being ‘like my daughter’.

Emma was wearing a floor-length, flesh-coloured Valentino dress and, as ever, she caught the eye of the fashion writers. ‘Harry Potter star Emma Watson led the charge last night for home-grown beauty as she shone on the red carpet at the Royal Opera House in a stunning floor-length nude gown by Valentino,’ said the
Daily Mail
. ‘She was hoping not to repeat her wardrobe malfunction of a pre-BAFTAs party on Saturday night in London, when she inadvertently flashed her chest [when] some tape keeping her plunging frock in place gave way.’

Emma took to the stage along with Rupert Grint, Jo
Rowling, three of the Potter directors, and producers David Baron and David Heyman. ‘Over 6,000 people worked on each of the films,’ Heyman said. ‘I’d like to say a huge thank you to BAFTA for this honour. Over the past decade, we’ve had the privilege of working with some of the finest people, in an atmosphere filled with pride but with no ego, working on glorious fiction created by Jo Rowling. We became a family of sorts. We had an awful lot of fun – our amazing cast, Dan, Rupert, Emma and a host of others and our incomparable crew. I’d like to thank Jo Rowling for encouraging parents and children to share the pleasure of reading.’

J. K. Rowling added, ‘It’s very strange to look back over seven films and remember how wary I was of letting anyone put Harry on the big screen. I kept saying no. It was David Heyman who persuaded me. He’s been there from start to finish. I need to say publicly how right I was to trust him, how much I owe him and how grateful I am to him. Being involved in these films has been one of the best experiences of my life.’

But it’s never been about awards. The thing that has brought cinemagoers back time and time again was the opportunity of seeing performers – and their characters – grow before their very eyes. With that opportunity has come a great deal of fame, money, responsibility and pressure. ‘There have been times when I’ve wanted to throw my hands up and go, “Take it all away, give it to someone else; it’s too much, I can’t cope; I can’t deal with it, I don’t want it,” because it has been pretty overwhelming,’ Emma said. ‘But, now it’s coming to an
end, I can step back and really start to appreciate it. Now it feels good – it feels so satisfying – to have completed all seven of the books, all eight of the movies, and seen Hermione through from beginning to end. I can’t believe I’ve actually managed it. What Dan, Rupert and I have done is unique. To inhabit these characters for ten years, through a period of our lives when we’ve changed so much, feels like such an achievement.’

Daniel Radcliffe quipped, ‘Being in Harry Potter is a lot like being in the Mafia, in that, once you’re in, you’re never really out. We are inextricably linked to each other for the rest of our lives.’

Emma seems very aware that, for all the pleasure there is to be found in being so famous for her role as Hermione Granger, there is – and will always be – a downside: ‘The best thing about being involved in Harry Potter is that you can make a six-year-old girl or boy’s day by giving them a handshake, and it’s so easy. It costs me so little to make someone incredibly happy, so that’s amazing and I’ve walked away and thought, God, I’m so lucky to be in a position that people are that excited to meet me. It’s amazing. The downside is that the level of curiosity into your life means that it becomes quite intrusive and the level of criticism is hard to deal with sometimes. It can make you really insecure.’

Now the Potter achievement is complete, it leaves Emma Watson with the very straightforward problem of what to do next. By her own admission, she never needs to work another day in her life if she chooses not to. ‘I’m going to
say something really sad. Knowing that there’s still more to come from me, it feels very strange to feel like you’re retiring when you’re 20 years old. But it does feel that way. I’ve spent ten years making these movies and I just hope that the second part of my life is as incredible as the first half.’

But perhaps things were getting a little
too
incredible; Emma maintained an astonishing pace during February and March 2011, jetting into London while trying to maintain her studies back in America. As well as attending the BAFTAs and the inevitable round of parties, she attended the
Elle
Style Awards wearing a nude-coloured Hakaan mini dress with daring cutaway sides.

Emma was there to be named as the magazine’s Style Icon and received her award from British design legend Vivienne Westwood, who admitted to the celeb-packed crowd that she had no idea who the actress was. ‘I was supposed to welcome and to announce the winner of the Style Icon – which I’m going to do – and I was given this text about this woman and how amazing she is,’ she said. ‘Yesterday I was asked, “This lady would like you to present it to her if she wins.” But I didn’t know who she was. They said Emma Watson. I said, “Who is Emma Watson?” I never watch television, I don’t read fashion magazines. They said she used to be in Harry Potter, and I said, “I’ve never seen Harry Potter.” They said he has this girl friend called Hermione and I said, “Oh, she’s lovely.” So I must have absorbed something of her. So I would like to give this award to Emma who I’ve just met.’

Elle
editor Lorraine Candy certainly knew all about
Emma Watson. ‘She’s got a very distinct individual look,’ Candy said. ‘We always say at
Elle
, “It’s not what you wear, it’s the way you wear it,” and she’s got such spirit, Emma. I think that makes her stylish.’

Emma was also putting the finishing touches to
My Week with Marilyn
while preparing for
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
, as well as fulfilling her other fashion commitments. Then there were preparations for the final Potter premiere to think about. It was announced that the unveiling of
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
would be the first red-carpet film event to take place in London’s Trafalgar Square, as it had been decided that Leicester Square, where the previous premieres have been held, would be just too small for the opening of the last Potter movie. The promotional duties would be harder than ever and would take her around the world.

Something had to give. On 7 March 2011, something did. Emma posted a message on her website: ‘Hi everyone – As you know, I love Brown and I love studying pretty much more than anything but recently I’ve had so much to juggle that being a student AND fulfilling my other commitments has become a little impossible. I’ve decided to take a bit of time off to completely finish my work on Harry Potter (the last one comes out this summer) and to focus on my other professional and acting projects. I will still be working towards my degree … it’s just going to take me a semester or two longer than I thought: ) Hope you are all well! Thank you for all your continuing support.’

Emma was under more scrutiny than ever – even she couldn’t juggle so many different projects and maintain her
education, especially given the fact that her university was halfway around the world. Her spokesman refused to confirm how quickly she was withdrawing from Brown, but, given the amount of work that lay ahead of her, the strong suggestion was that she was ending her studies immediately.

There have been so few breaks in Emma Watson’s life so far, it’s not surprising that she finally had to take her foot off the pedal. Despite all the projects, she still appears to be in something of a holding pattern, waiting for the next really big challenge to present itself. ‘I want to figure out how I feel about everything first,’ she told
Elle
. ‘Maybe I’ll keep acting, maybe I won’t. I just want to find something where I feel I
have
to do this. Maybe that’ll happen when I read a script. It felt like that with Hermione. I want to feel like that again.’

When that feeling comes it will be accompanied by an inevitable increase in publicity, scrutiny and pressure, though, if anyone has the tools to cope with it, it’s Emma Watson: ‘To be honest, I was thrown into the mosh pit known as the red carpet at 11 years old. I’m just used to it all. I know what to expect. I’ve seen it all.’

The scrutiny centres on her acting, her hair, her clothes and her lifestyle. And her love life. Every look and gesture carried out in public – or sometimes in private – has been captured, discussed and commented on across the world. Not the easiest environment to build a relationship in. ‘I’m very romantic and of course I want to be in love,’ she told the
Sun
. ‘I’ve been in love once in my life, but it was complicated. I can’t tell you who it was because it wouldn’t be fair to any others. But I can say I’ve never had my heart
broken. I like men with quick wit, good conversation and a great sense of humour. I love banter. I want a man to like me for me – I want him to be authentic. But men don’t really ask me out. And I don’t get marriage proposals any more, either. It’s not happening there!’

Apart from Emma’s father Chris, there is one man who has been consistent throughout this story – and that’s Potter producer David Heyman. He has a Harry Potter poster on the wall of his office – it’s signed by all three of the young stars: ‘You’re a WICKED producer!’ says the message from Rupert Grint. ‘Thank goodness I went to the theatre. Love, Dan’ is Radcliffe’s contribution. Emma’s? Well, it couldn’t be more Watsonesque: ‘To David, thank you is not a strong enough word for my gratitude’. Inevitably, the handwriting is impeccable.

It’s Heyman whom Emma credits with keeping her and the other young stars sane through what was essentially an insane process. ‘Emma is astonishingly bright and just anxious to move forward with life,’ Heyman told the
Los Angeles Times
. ‘She’s been amazing to watch. She has these choices. She could be an actress or a model, but with her studies and success she could also be a lawyer. She could also be an artist … It’s pretty amazing to see.’

Emma Watson, it appears, can do anything. ‘I want to work in every single genre,’ she said. ‘If anyone will say anything about my career, [I want it to be that] I was able to do lots of different things and I didn’t just play one person in lots of different films, and my role choices were diverse and interesting. I’d love to do a period drama, a musical, a crazy Baz Lurhmann
Moulin Rouge
… I’d love
to do a small independent film. I’d love to do a French film. I want to do everything.’

There’s no reason to doubt her. Emma Watson has shown time and again that she can ‘step up’. She’s done it before – it’s certain she will do it again. ‘For me, this is just the beginning. I’ve only shown a little bit of what I can do. There is so much more to come.’