Emma Watson says she has ‘more autonomy’ after taking step back from acting

Emma Watson has said she is “glad” she took a step away from acting as she feels she has “more autonomy” now.

The last feature length film the 33-year-old British actress starred in was Greta Gerwig’s 2019 movie, Little Women, in which she played Meg March.

Speaking to British Vogue for its January issue, the actress said: (Choosing) to go back and write and study and get behind the camera was terrifying for me because I’d never done it before.

“I had always been in front of the camera; I’d always been an actor.”

The Harry Potter star has, in recent years, turned to writing and directing, and the Financial Times reported in April that she was set to begin an MA in creative writing at Oxford University this year.

She has also directed and starred in a 2022 advertisement campaign for the Prada fragrance Paradoxe.

Watson said: “I’m just so glad that I did (step away from acting) 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.

“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.”

Discussing fame and Hollywood’s inner sanctum, she said: “I get a front row seat (with) some of the most successful, beautiful, incredible people in the world.

“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.”

Watson’s last British Vogue cover interview was in 2019 when she talked about turning 30 and said she was “very happy” being single and called it “being self-partnered”.

The actress and activist, who was made a UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador in 2014, played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series and has starred in a slew of other films, including the 2017 Disney live-action remake of Beauty And The Beast, Sofia Coppola-directed movie The Bling Ring in 2014 and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower in 2012.

British Vogue is celebrating sustainability trailblazers in its January issue with Watson, model and actress Amber Valletta, and designers Priya Ahluwalia, Tolu Coker and Torisheju Dumi featuring across three covers.

See the full feature in the January issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday December 19.