Why Emma Watson Is "Glad" She Stepped Away From Acting

Harry Potter alum Emma Watson reflected on her decision to take an acting break, reflecting on the sense of freedom she felt leaving the spotlight.

Emma Watson was simply no longer enchanted by acting.

The Harry Potter alum has largely stepped away from onscreen roles since appearing in 2019’s Little Women—and she has no regrets.

“I’m just so glad that I did,” Emma told British Vogue in an interview posted Dec. 14, “because I have this feeling of having my own voice and creative space and sovereignty in some way that I don’t think I did before—more autonomy.”

She continued, “I’m so glad that I allowed things to be messy for a minute and to really allow myself to not know [what’s next], because the knowing that I’ve come to, I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

After all, the 33-year-old spent much of her life in the spotlight as she made her debut as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films when she was just 11 years old. And when the blockbuster series ended in 2011, she went on to star in movies such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Bling Ring and Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast remake.

While on the outside, Emma was living most actors’ dreams. But on the inside, she was struggling.

“I get a front row seat [with] some of the most successful, beautiful, incredible people in the world,” Emma expressed. “And when you have that seat it becomes very, very clear that there is just absolutely no level of success that will make you in any way happy or content if you do not like who you are or enjoy what you’re doing when no one’s watching.”

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Meanwhile, amid her acting hiatus, Emma has continued to keep her personal life private. In fact, she shared she was “very happy” being single in an interview with British Vogue last year, adding, “I call it being self-partnered.”

Now, reflecting on those remarks, she clarified that those remarks weren’t “necessarily about me celebrating being single.”

“Getting to the point when I was 30,” Emma explained, “I was realizing, ‘Oh, maybe I’ve figured out some things about how to care for myself better—maybe quite well, actually.’ And taking pride in that.”

But these days, the Renais Gin co-founder is not alone: Emma finds support and companionship in her beloved rescue dog Sofia.

“I just look at her and I’m like, ‘Well, I’m happy and you’re happy,'” she noted. “The thing that is so amazing about animals is they’re just so good at being. Food, humans, sleep—they’re very good at the basics. I feel like whenever I get really overwhelmed, I’m like, ‘Emma, just do the basics.’ ”

Look back at Emma through the years below: