Emma Watson was just 11 years old when she first played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, and over eight films, fans got to witness the transformation of both the actress and her character. Watson has continued to work hard in the years since the Harry Potter series came to an end, both in her academic life at Brown University and in plenty of other movies, and she continues to inspire people who grew up loving Hermione. From her various looks over the years to her plans for the future, let's take a look at the transformation of Emma Watson.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Emma Watson has been on top of the world since she was just a little tyke starring in the
00:04Harry Potter movies.
00:05The world watched her grow up on screen, but she's also managed to accomplish quite a bit
00:09away from the cameras, like pursuing a world-class education and becoming a fashionista and philanthropist.
00:15All the while, she's also solidified her career in show business.
00:18So to celebrate all of her accomplishments thus far, let's take a look back at Emma Watson's
00:23journey since her first ride on the Hogwarts Express.
00:26An auspicious start
00:28A lot of children have big dreams of becoming a star, but Emma Watson actually got to live
00:32that reality.
00:33In 2001, the then-nine-year-old made her screen debut as the spunky smart girl Hermione Granger
00:38in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
00:40And that was just the beginning of her work playing one of the most iconic book-to-film
00:44characters of all time.
00:45Honestly, don't you two read?"
00:48She might have been an instant silver screen legend thanks to her turn as the cleverest
00:51witch, but she still had a surprisingly normal childhood.
00:55As she told BBC News when she was just 12,
00:57I go to a very big school, and some people give me a bit of stick.
01:00But apart from that, most people are really nice about it.
01:03My close friends just treat me normally.
01:04I still do everything I used to do."
01:06As the years continued, Watson was able to dig deeper into who Hermione Granger was,
01:11growing both her character and her acting abilities.
01:13And even in those teen years, Watson seemed free of diva tendencies.
01:17She said,
01:18I feel incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to be in such a fantastic film.
01:22My ambitions couldn't even dream of the scale and greatness that Harry Potter is, and so
01:26I'm so very lucky about that."
01:28As time progressed, she continued to challenge herself and excelled when she worked hard,
01:32much like her on-screen counterpart.
01:34And as both Watson and her character grew older, they became more complex and compelling
01:38in equal measure.
01:40Role model status
01:42As her fame grew, Watson became a role model for young girls, and she saw how important
01:46it was to emphasize female intelligence in society.
01:49At 17, she told Parade,
01:51Hermione's not scared to be clever.
01:52I think sometimes really smart girls dumb themselves down a bit, and that's bad."
01:56And while Watson was taking a strong stand when it came to girl power, she also was focusing
02:00on making sure her life stayed normal outside of Hollywood.
02:03She decided to pursue a prestigious education as one of her first post-Potter adventures.
02:08Expanding her horizons
02:09By 2008, the world had been caught under the spell of a young starlet.
02:14At 18, the actress was signed to a two-year, $6 million contract with Chanel to be the
02:18face of its Coco Mademoiselle fragrance.
02:20This big moment showed that Watson had grown from a showbiz teen into a woman of class.
02:24But she wasn't just working towards a future in fashion.
02:27Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon.
02:30In 2009, Watson announced she planned to attend Brown University to study liberal arts.
02:35Ever the non-diva, she also wanted the full college experience, including the dorms and
02:39roommates.
02:40She said,
02:41If I'm going to do this experience, I'm going to do it properly and going to do it like
02:44everyone else."
02:45With an attitude like that, it's no wonder she was never cursed with child star syndrome.
02:50A new do
02:51Once the Harry Potter films came to a close, Emma Watson decided to make a big change to
02:55her appearance.
02:57Although she'd had to maintain a wavy, long mane throughout filming for Harry Potter,
03:00in 2010, Watson chopped off her hair for a cute, very short, pixie-like do.
03:05Watson told Metro,
03:06I didn't get to experiment with dyeing and chopping off my hair like most teenagers.
03:10I also felt, right, I'm 20, I'm not a little girl anymore.
03:13I'd been on Harry Potter for 10 years, so I needed to mark the end of it in some way.
03:16I needed a drastic change, and that's what the chop was all about.
03:19When she revealed her new look to the world, she dubbed it the most liberating thing ever.
03:23And the look would last at least long enough for her to star in her next big book-to-screen
03:27project, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
03:29Shortly thereafter, Watson began introducing a more adult side to herself in movies like
03:33The Bling Ring and This Is the End.
03:35I'm not f-----g around!
03:38You don't do this!
03:40Price of fame
03:41In 2011, when 21-year-old Watson would be entering her third year at Brown University,
03:45she decided to take a moment away from the American college, saying,
03:48I was in denial.
03:49I wanted to pretend I wasn't as famous as I was.
03:52I was trying to seek out normality, but I kind of have to accept who I am, the position
03:56I'm in, and what happened."
03:57She wasn't leaving higher education entirely, but would instead be attending school back
04:01in the U.K.
04:02Although rumors swirled, she insisted she was never bullied at her university.
04:07If anything, her problem was just the opposite, because Watson's fame apparently intimidated
04:11the college boys.
04:12I'm sorry, what just happened?
04:15She ultimately finished her degree in literature at Brown a few years later.
04:19World of beauty
04:20By 2012, the last Harry Potter film had been released, and Watson felt more comfortable
04:25to make big changes.
04:26As she told The Independent,
04:27As I've got older and since I cut all my hair off, I felt a bit more liberated about trying
04:32different things out.
04:33One of those different things was being the new face of Lancôme's Rouge in Love campaign,
04:37with a focus on their lipstick.
04:38Having this role with Lancôme helped fans see her in a more adult light, instead of
04:42as the frizzy-haired, anxious wizard we'd all grown to love.
04:45But even though she was growing into a more fashion-savvy celebrity, she also made an
04:49effort to maximize her inner beauty as well.
04:52After graduating from Brown University in 2014, the then-24-year-old British actress
04:56was officially named the new Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N.'s gender equality arm, U.N. Women.
05:01It was there that she organized the buzzy HeForShe gender equality campaign and delivered
05:05a speech that captivated audiences.
05:07"...feminism, by definition, is the belief that men and women should have equal rights."
05:15And Watson isn't slowing down anytime soon.
05:17She continues to visibly pursue women's rights, while accelerating her screen career quite
05:21nicely.
05:22Most recently, she cemented her status as a box office darling by starring in 2017's
05:27biggest film, the live-action adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
05:31Just like Hermione before her, the character was a bookworm who valued substance over the
05:34superficial.
05:35So it's no wonder Watson made it work.