Emma Watson

Emma Watson (born Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson, 15.4.1990)

Emma Watson is a British actress, best known for playing the role of Hermione Granger in the series of Harry Potter films. 

Childhood

Watson's parents, Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson are both British lawyers. Luesby gave birth to her daughter in Paris, where they lived until she was five years old. After her parents divorced, Emma moved with her mother and brother (Alex) to Oxfordshire, England.

Emma Watson had ambition to become an actress from a young age and attended the Oxford Stagecoach Theatre Arts group, where she learned to sing, dance and act. With the group, performed in plays such as The Happy Prince and Arthur: The Young Years. Despite this, landing the role of Hermione was her first stab at professional acting.

Acting Career

The casting for the film adaptation of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone started in 1999. The three lead roles went to Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Daniel Radcliffe, (Harry Potter) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley). 

The film went on to be a huge global success and also starred Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith and Richard Harris. Emma Watson won a Young Artist Award for her debut film appearance.

The next film in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, came just a year later. This time, Emma shared screen-time with Kenneth Branagh and Jason Isaacs. Some film reviewers criticised the director Chris Columbus for failing to utilize the popular character played by Emma Watson.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was the third film in the Harry Potter series and added Michael Gambon and Gary Oldman to the regular cast list. Yet again, Emma Watson's performance was highlighted by many to be the film's high point.

In 2005, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released, breaking previous records set by a Harry Potter film for an opening weekend cinema sales. Following the release of the film, Emma Watson became the youngest person to ever appear on the cover of Teen Vogue. The following year, a mini episode of Harry Potter was created in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday. The episode was entitled The Queen's Handbag.

The fifth installment in the Harry Potter series was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The film grossed over $332 million on its debut weekend and Emma Watson won a National Movie Award for Best Female Performance.

The three lead actors faltered before signing a contractual commitment for the final two episodes of the film series knowing that it would take up another four years of their lives, which had already been dominated by their work on the Harry Potter franchise. Watson, along with the others, eventually signed up, with her fee doubled to £2million per movie. The resultant film was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released in July 2009. This time, the cast list counted Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter amongst its number.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the final installment of the Harry Potter series and is divided into two parts, filmed back-to-back.

The first role that Emma Watson took on outside of Harry Potter was the BBC film Ballet Shoes, shot in 2007. The film was an adaptation of the novel by Noel Streatfield. In the animated the Tale of Despereaux featured Emma Watson providing the voice of Princess Pea. The film also featured voices from Sigourney Weaver and Matthew Broderick.

Other Work

In 2000, it was announced that Emma Watson had been chosen as the new face of the Burberry fashion label. It had previously been rumoured that she would replace Keira Knightley as Chanel's figurehead but these rumours were untrue. Emma Watson also helped the Fair Trade clothes label People Tree to create a new fashion range.