Emma Watson Profile Biography

A witch who is charming, fun, and brainy – not as impossible as you think! One fine Halloween day a young Emma Watson donned a witch’s costume, never dreaming that one day she would actually play the role of a witch as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. Incidentally, this witch loves chocolates and hates vegetables! Another aspect of the screen character that Emma has is being a brainy student who is passionate about studies. Unlike many teen stars who neglect their education and exchange books for film scripts, Emma is clear that her studies will not be affected by her film career. During shoots, she was tutored on the sets at Leavesden Studios and achieved straight-A results both for her GCSE exams and A- level exams. Emma is presently in her first year at Brown University, USA. She has roomed up with another girl in an apartment in Providence, Rhode Island.

Emma selected USA for her University education as she felt it offered a far broader scope than universities back home in UK. She learnt bout the variety of subjects offered by American Universities when she met foreign students while doing a Shakespeare course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). As she said in an interview with the Interview magazine "For someone who has missed as much school as I have, I want to go back and discover what else there is." These past years, those discoveries were put on hold. Since age 9, Emma has been transported to the world of witches, broomsticks, spells and dragons. The reel character Hermione totally took over her real persona as Emma. For Emma there were to be no girly sleep-overs, partying late at a club or cheering from the sidelines at a football game. Instead, Hermione got early calls to sets, had to mug up reams of dialogues, don various costumes and in-between study five hours on the sets.

This dramatic change of lifestyle first began when Emma’s Oxford theatre teacher sent her for auditions for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. After 8 auditions, Emma was selected to play Hermione, as were Daniel Radcliffe to play Harry Potter, and Rupert Grint to play Ron Weasley. The film broke box-office records, with Emma bagging the Young Artist Award. She went on to bag more awards with some of the later Harry Potter films. Even more incredible, Emma entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest earning actress of the decade!

All those millions of pounds have not turned Emma’s head, though, nor has her behaviour become arrogant. Emma herself once said "I have enough money never to have to work again, but I would never want that. Learning keeps me motivated." The frank teenager tries to lead as normal a life as is possible for somebody who is constantly in the spotlight. She is loyal to her friends and enjoys socializing with her pals. She loves to listen to music, her favourite singers being Justin Timberlake and Alanis Morrisette. Emma likes ballet and modern dance as well as writing poetry. In fact, at age 7 she won the Daisy Pratt Poetry Competition! Another little known fact about Emma is that she is fairly good in painting. Her favourite subjects for the canvas are portraits of people and facial expressions. She has even done a

portrait of her step brother. With her love for art, it was natural for Emma to pursue it at Brown University. She is also studying English literature and geology.

On campus, Emma can’t exactly make herself invisible like Hermione to avoid being the centre of attention as a celebrity! She does, though, try to dress down like the other students in casuals. Off campus, Emma has designed a line of clothing for ethical label People Tree. However, she is not just another big star with a temporary fascination for fashion designing merely to grab headlines. Emma has devoted a great deal of time and put forth her suggestions through her art work to the clothing line for teenagers. She also made it clear at the outset that it was not a celebrity endorsement, but a genuine support of fair-trade and ethical fashion. The range includes linen fabrics, cotton vests, scarves and hoodies. Emma’s sense of style appealed to many and she was included in Vogue’s best dressed list last year. What’s more, she became the face of Burberry and Chanel, their products making huge profits the minute Emma started endorsing them.

While Emma became an instant darling of Britain, she is actually a native of Paris, France. After her lawyer-parents divorced in 1995, Emma’s mother Jacqueline shifted to Oxfordshire, England with Emma and her younger brother Alex. Emma’s acting, dancing and singing skills were honed at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. She even performed in a few school plays. Then came those auditions which saw Emma playing out the next ten years of her life on camera through the Harry Potter series. Outside of the series, Emma has lent her voice to Princess Pea in the animated flick 'The Tale of Despereaux' and featured in the BBC drama 'Ballet Shoes'.

As for her personal life, Emma was financier Jay Barrymore’s sweetheart for two years. It is possible that the distance in miles – with Emma in USA and Jay in UK – was a cause of the split. The new rumours are that Emma is dating fellow student and Spanish musician Rafael Cebrian. On screen, Hermione and Ron fall in love in the final wizard film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The film is being shot in 2 parts, with the first scheduled for release in November this year and the second to be released next year.

Emma is in two minds about whether or not to continue with her acting career post-Potter films. On the one hand she admits not to have a "burning passion" for acting; on the other hand she says "I’m sure I’ll still be here in 10 years, making Harry Potter 30". So while she is keener on pursuing her education, she is game to do theatre and take up a role which, as reported here, makes her feel "as strongly about as I did Hermione - like, I felt that it was life or death".

A few of Emma’s Favourites

* Favourite sports: Tennis, hockey and rounders

* Favourite stars: Julia Roberts; Brad Pitt; Renee Zellwegger

* Favourite films: Grease; The Shawshank Redemption; Braveheart; Gladiator; Shrek; 

Ocean's Eleven; Pride & Prejudice

* Favorite Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban