Emma Watson reveals why she made the 'difficult' decision to give up acting

Emma Watson became a household name at just 11 years old after landing the role of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movie franchise. After starring in all eight films alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, she went on to enjoy a successful acting career with a number of blockbusters under her belt, including The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Beauty and the Beast.

However, her final onscreen appearance came in 2018 when she played Meg in Greta Gerwig's Little Women. Despite a thriving career in Hollywood, Emma decided to give up acting after almost 20 years, and during an interview with the Financial Times she explained why it's unlikely we'll see her gracing the silver screen any time soon. 

Discussing her decision to step back, Emma revealed: "I think I felt a bit caged. The thing I found really hard was that I had to go out and sell something that I really didn’t have very much control over.

"To stand in front of a film and have every journalist be able to say, 'How does this align with your viewpoint?'... It was very difficult to have to be the face and the spokesperson for things where I didn’t get to be involved in the process."

Adding that she 'wasn't very happy', she continued: "I only wanted to stand in front of things where if someone was going to give me flak about it, I could say, in a way that didn’t make me hate myself, 'Yes, I screwed up, it was my decision, I should have done better'."

In recent years Emma has focused on new projects, including her gin brand Renais, which she founded with her brother Alex, as well as directing a short film for a Prada campaign, which she also stars in. In the interview, she also said she would be taking on the role of director for a music video for a big musician. 

Exciting stuff!