Emma Watson said Hollywood was tough to navigate after her days filming the “Harry Potter” franchise because none of the film sets were as community-oriented as the one she began her career with.
“I was coming to those sets with an expectation that I think I had developed on ‘Harry Potter,’” Watson said during Wednesday’s episode of the “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” podcast, “which was that … the people I worked with were going to be my family, and that we were going to be lifelong friends.”
She added that many of her non-“Harry Potter” cast mates were often focused on the opportunity at hand, rather than making friends.
“That was a very painful experience for me, outside of ‘Harry Potter’ and in Hollywood, bone-breaking,” Watson explained.”Because most people don’t come to those environments looking for friendships. They’re looking for, This is my chance, this is my role, this is what I want out of it. I’m focused, this is my job. This is my career … I was not of that mindset.”
Watson starred in all eight of the “Harry Potter” films, playing witty witch Hermoine Granger opposite fellow leads Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint.
The very first film, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” premiered in theaters all the way back in 2001, with the franchise wrapping up 10 years later in 2011 with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.” It was an understandably tough act to follow.
Watson went on to star in several films in the aftermath of the final film, including “My Week With Marilyn,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Little Women” and “The Bling Ring.”
While she remained booked and busy, Watson said the “rejection” was very painful to experience in the industry.
“It was so unusual to make a set of films for 12 years and we were a community,” she said, thinking back to her life filming the iconic franchise. “So I took that as an expectation into my other workplaces, and I just got my ass kicked. I really did. It broke me.”
Despite it all, and even though she shares that she’s navigating her relationship with art and acting, Watson says she’ll never quit the craft. “Little Women” came out in 2019 and it’s the last film Watson acted in.
“I don’t feel quite that kind of urgency of needing to do it,” Watson admitted. “I’ll never say that I’ll quit acting. I’ll always be an actor. I’m still open to doing it again.”
