Last year, I was increasingly disturbed by Emma Watson’s ever-changing story about her university studies. I was yelled at, often and vigorously, but I still think my point stands: Emma took time off from Brown University because she wanted to work, model and party. It’s not against the law – it’s her choice. But don’t ask me to buy an image of Emma as some Natalie Portman-type who is studious and intellectually industrious. I had to eat some of my criticisms of Emma when she did end up “transferring” from Brown to Oxford last fall. I had hoped that this would be the end of the whole “Is she a young woman who prioritizes her education, or is she just interested in working?” debate. Except the transfer didn’t last long – these are photos of Emma arriving in LA a few days ago, where she has just started work on Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring:
Emma Watson has been lined up to star in Sofia Coppola’s new film The Bling Ring.
Variety said that Sofia would write and direct the movie, the true story of a group of teenagers who commit a string of celebrity burglaries.“I’m excited about the young cast we’re assembling and I’m looking forward to shooting on location here in Los Angeles,” the Lost In Translation and Marie Antoinette director said.
Harry Potter star Emma last year started her first term at Oxford University, after quitting America’s Brown University.
She recently starred in My Week With Marilyn and is set to appear with Paul Rudd in Perks Of Being A Wallflower.
The actress will be following in the footsteps of Scarlett Johansson in Lost In Translation and Somewhere’s Elle Fanning, who broke into more adult material with Coppola films.
[From The Press Association]
The opportunity for a young actress to work with Sofia Coppola… well, I understand Emma’s choice. Totally. When that call comes in, you take it. But I fear we’ll be seeing another round of interviews from Emma about how she’s just too much of a perfectionist to go to school AND work. Maybe Emma will go back to school after this. Or maybe she’ll just stop trying to make everything work perfectly.
You can see some photos of Emma in character in Calabasas here. Sofia gave Emma long extensions. Is Emma playing the main girl in The Bling Ring, the ringleader? Because from what I remember of that girl, she looked really, really trashy and very “LA”. Emma needs a fake-tan, more makeup and some glitter or something.
UPDATE: Thanks to the people pointing out that Oxford has a different semester-schedule than American universities. Maybe Emma is on a break right now, and I believe that she’s “deferring” her next semester too. But that’s what she said about Brown University too, and that ended up being months until she finally transferred to Oxford.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
I think Emma likes the idea of going to university more than she likes going to university.
Ditto
agreed – I’m not saying she shouldn’t do films either (but really, if she didn’t it’s no big loss).
I’d give an arm and a leg to go to Oxford – damn international fees!
Emma posted a message on her official website and talked about her education:
“I’m taking my 3rd term out of Worcester College to make sure I don’t compromise my studies or my part in the film.”
http://www.emmawatson.com/en/Latest/Emma/Emmas-Bling-Ring-Message/
Actually oxford have already finished for easter, they have massive breaks.
^This.
Plus the ridicule should be saved for the likes of Lohan and the Kardashians etc.
Not a young woman who’s taking a term out of Uni.
Exactly! And she’s picking great projects-not crap.
Hear hear!
Indeed. Not only that, but they are pretty much done for the rest of year. English unis have notorious long breaks. I go to a uni in Leeds, and after easter break (Which is 2 weeks long), I have only 2 more weeks of classes, and then 3 weeks of study break then exams (many students don’t have exams, it depends on the modules they take). Since Emma’s doing a year abroad, her exams probably don’t count as much, and therefore, I can totally understand.
I know one girl who is pretty much done for this year because she finished off her coursework and has no exams. Universities in England is more independent work, plus she’s doing English which seriously has about 4 hours a week at an English uni.
People who give her a hard time are unfamiliar with the british system. Seriously, 3rd term is none existence at this point! Everyone knows it’s the 1st and 2nd term that count….
English students at Oxford certainly have a lot more than 4 hours work a week, however as a visiting student Emma may have less work than a regular student.
when i was at her age i changed my mind every 5 minutes! just give her some rest!
I was thinking the same thing!
Jeez…She seems like such a sweet kid, give her a break people.
And it’s not like she’s taking time to go do drugs and lie on a beach.
She’s working. And I would guess it’s even more crucial to do so in her case if she’s ever going to break the Hermoine image.
Yes! Thank you. I totally bombed one semester in college, did an exchange semester, changed my major so on and so forth but eventually I got my degree. There is nothing wrong with transferring, taking a semester off or watching spongebob for 3 months straight. I’m sure she pays off her own tuition, why wouldn’t she extend the experience?
You made me laugh at the Spongebob for three months. I’m sure lots of students have this phase where they play Mario for a couple of months or do Buffy twice in a row.
i have deep respect for her pr team. emma does so many things that are no go for other stars and she gets away with it.
she talks about uni being her priority but drops out twice to do other things, she jumps from guy to guy and never gets labeled a slut like so many other girls her age which had far less boyfriends and flings, she did her eco friendly clothes stuff and never wore anything from it, it was only for her image, not a cause she really cares about.
or what she said about her accent in my week with marilyn “its a lower class accent” wow.
she is as elitist and smug as natalie portman but portman has more talent and is more intelligent.
so kudos to her pr team. emma has a STELLAR image despite who she really is.
That’s a lot of anger and bitterness directed at someone you don’t know or spend any time with to vouch for any accuracy for what you’ve written.
Emma is from Oxford– she went to Headington School. I don’t know anyone who went to Headington and didn’t leave with an extremely posh accent and a complex about– but they don’t mean anything by it. It’s just this ridiculous class warfare nonsense; most of the girls from her school who I’ve met (and I go to Uni with several) really feel self-conscious about their ‘upper middle class’ accent. They genuinely don’t mean anything by it. So, don’t judge her based on that comment. She was likely just making an observation, not being ‘elitest’. Your other comments might be legitimate, but I wouldn’t know. I’ve not paid that much attention to her personally.
I really don’t like Emma,I find her hypocritical and shallow. I also find her quite boring. She needs to just admit that her fame and film career are more important than education and then just shut up about it. She is constantly talking about herself (she talked about her hair for two years!!) and is overexposed. Also, I don’t like her as an actress, but she has improved and may do well in this film. The film looks to be one of Coppola’s weak efforts. She peaked at Lost in Translation.
I agree with this. I think she is a tad wishy-washy and self-righteous about her academic career.
I like her enough, but I think she’s vastly overrated as a model (she’s pretty, period) and an actress — she was the weakest of the three leads in the HP movies, and I haven’t seen her distinguish herself in anything else.
Emmy, same! I know many girls who went to Headington, and they do have a complex about their identity.. being posh and all. But they seriously mean nothing by it, and one of my friends said that Emma was actually one of the nicest in the school. I wish people wouldn’t give her a hard time (I’m not really a fan) but a lot of people just seem absolutely clueless about English kids her age, especially ones that came from Oxford and boarding schools.
WTH. This is the same crazy stalker who runs that psycho blog and posts the same garbage about Emma Watson on every site.
I believe she did defer. Deferrment is not the same as dropping out. Education is probably the most important thing in my life, but I understand deferring a semester for an opportunity. I did it, went back, and have two post grad degrees now.
A lot of schools have two or three month summer breaks. Doing this movie doesn’t mean she dropped out.
But it’s March, which by my calculation is spring not summer even in the UK, lol. I get the criticism but for some reason she doesn’t bug me. And I’m not even a Harry Potter fan. If she wants to take 10 years to get an undergrad degree then that’s on her. Most of her peers haven’t even stepped foot onto a university campus! Did the other Emma drop out completely? Kudos to her for making it work on her terms. She toured NYU when she was looking to transfer from Brown and she is soooo tiny it’s frightening.
UK uni’s usually finish for Easter at the end of March although Oxford is early. After the Easter break, classes are normally finished and you just return for revision, which can be completed away from campus, and exams, then are away until the end of September when the new academic year starts. So its pretty plausible that she is just working over Easter and the Summer. However, still not a fan. Overated much….?
I don’t get the hate for this girl on this site. I left school for 5 years to make a crap load while I could. And I’d do the same thing again. Emma isn’t some sort of crusader for education, so I don’t see why this is a “gotcha.”
NATALIE PORTMAN DID in fact leave school for months because she was desperate for work after the star wars debacle. She did Garden State while still at college, and not during the summer holidays. So Portman doesn’t put education over stardom, and neither does Watson.
Eh, if it takes her 10 years to finish, who really cares. College is supposed to make you well rounded, whole, ready for the future.. I think she’s doing that pretty well for herself. I don’t really like her, but I don’t see a problem doing college this way. She’s not really wasting money she doesn’t have or anything.
PS, her hair looks so much better now. It was a cute pixie, horrible in between, and now cute again.
dont get all the hate for this girl. she seems nice enough. not trashy in any way.
why bitch about her taking a job? it is a job your know and with acting you never know when theyll stop calling you so you have to take the good ones when they come.
also, shes going back, you can take as many years as you want to complete you degree… which by the way, i sometimes feel are useless (i have one).
if i were in her shoes i would do the same exact thing.
I think she’s great to do this.
It’s her life, and considering all the people with degrees and nothing else, she’s wise to make a career and loads of money while she still can.
College isn’t for everyone – even if you’re smart enough for it, there are other ways to be successful.
I honestly don’t see what the big deal is. She’s an actress, therefore she has acting jobs, and she should take them while they’re still being offered. School will still be there whether she decides to go back or not. Personally, I think she’ll finish her degree, but I wouldn’t fault her if she didn’t.
On a side note, it’s nice to see her with longer hair again! I can’t wait until it’s naturally long, although those extensions aren’t bad. That’ll look so much better, though.
I took so much more space to say what you so eloquently said here. I agree with you completely!
The point Kaiser was making is that Emma Watson always says how university is her #1 priority or how much she values an education – clearly she does value an education, but not at the level she constantly implies.
Just FYI, I went to Columbia University for undergrad and most people (I agree, lots of annoying elite snobbery, but true in this case) at the Ivy Leagues don’t consider Brown as part of the Ivy circle for many reasons…just look at how they’re the only Ivy League without a Nobel Prize winner. As for current undergrads, they have this silly system of “making your own major”, go google it.
Emma would have failed out of any college except for Brown make your own major and NYU’s Gallatin.
That doesn’t mean she’s not intelligent/hardworking, but the amount of work she’s put into university would not pass at any other college, public or private.
Well said.
+1
Lol she did tour Gallatin I wonder why she didn’t end up there?
ffs,she did get into oxford, didnt she? so shall we start comparing oxford to columbia dear? i didnt think so…
How do you know how much work she did?
lol a lot people don’t consider Columbia part of the Ivy League either tbh.
Well, I don’t know how much amount of work she’s put into it. 😉 I assume she’s put in quite a bit at this point, it’ll just taker her a bit longer to finish. She seems to value her education and her career equally. I don’t know if she’s stated otherwise, but that’s the impression I get. I remember when she was much younger saying that she liked school, so perhaps that hasn’t changed. But she has to take jobs right now if she wants to continue in movies for any period of time. I’d do the same if I were her.
And from the sounds of it, she might simply be taking advantage of her break by filming, rather than doing nothing.
i don’t understand how this is surprising. people in entertainment have very different priorities – they take jobs where/when they can. having a college diploma would probably be superfluous in her case.
Let’s see “Star in a major motion picture or sit around studying….” Hard choice.
I love her hair like this.
in my opinion, the bling ring doesnt seem like it should be something that is directed by sofia coppola. it seems more like it should
be a lifetime movie.
I also think they should stop talking about and not turn it into art. Why make the crimes of these wannabes who robbed celebrities houses more well known. and I hate the fact that afterward, the family of the one girl got a reality show. sad.
Thought the same thing. Coppola? Bling Ring? What the?
They already did make this movie. One weekend it was on 6 times from Friday night until sunday night. It was craptacular!
Why can’t she be both a student and an actor? She’s trying to stay relevant, make $$ and also continue her education. Who says it has to be in one block or education “isn’t a priority” to her? It’s a priority, or she would just drop out and be done with it.
I like her very much. She’s young and making her way through life. Let’s give her a break!
As other have said, it’s easter break at Oxford. She’s basically taking the summer semester off. Relax.
I don’t get the hate for her either…..many people go to college to HAVE a career. She already has one, so what’s the big deal? Maybe it’s just a personal goal for her to have a college degree and she doesn’t have a set timeline.
All I know is I went to college for 6 years, 2 degrees, and I don’t really feel I’m any better off. If I had the opportunities she has, I’d take them.
It just seems to me like she wants to still work and go to school when she can. I don’t see any problem with it, better that than spend her down time partying like a Lohan.
If the problem is that she has said school is her #1 priority, she’s hardly the first person, actor or otherwise, to not follow through or change their mind.
If only she actually had some acting talent.
These stories are getting old. She’s working and studying, give her a break.
Ok, I love this website and agree with most of what you say (except for your atrociously bad fashion sense when commenting on celebrities’ outfits).
but this is RIDICULOUS. we (yeah, im at oxford) have very long breaks between terms and emma does not need to defer to film something.(also deferring a term is not an option here just fyi) so give the poor girl a break.
oh, and she is an exchange student at oxford (i.e. she didnt drop out from brown). we have those from amherst, brown, columbia etc etc and some of the arent famous (believe it or not).
Hi oxfordBabe, just out of curiosity, but is there a particular reason for the long breaks or is it just tradition? I am always interested in how stuff is done across the pond. My goal is to visit England one day and wallow in everything English for a while.
I remember Oxford having trimester terms; Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity. The break between Trinity (mostly exam and tutorials)and Michaelmas was really long – like mid June to the beginning of October. But the break between Michaelmas and and Hilary wasn’t too long, three or four weeks… but that was a long time ago and I could be mistaken. I went to Trinity Dublin and our breaks weren’t as long, but we had the same term names (Michaelmas is end of Aug-December, Hilary is January-April, and Trinity is April-end June usually)
Well with English universities, the study is a lot more independent work. A lot of the breaks are study breaks, depending on the modules you take as well really. And a lot of times, people fill up their summer breaks with jobs, internships, volunteering, etc. Goal of university really is to become more independent, which is why it’s a shorter period, more ‘we’re not going to force you to attend classes, but your performance will not be as good’.
Tbh exchange students like her at english universities used to travel all the time around europe, many other students take up jobs, internships and volunteer abroad (I usually take up an internship). So Emma working on a film is seriously no different to what an average english uni kid is doing at the moment.
As much as I hate saying it cuz I REALLY hate when people categorize LA like that…She’s got those hideous Uggs on that’s def “LA” from a few yrs ago.
As for school, seems like the Brits have chimed in and said they’re on a different schedule at Oxford so no biggie. Good for her that she can do both.
I hope it is worth for her. JMO, but I don’t see the talent in Sophia Coppola. She was a lousy actress (which she seems to have realized), but not much better behind the cameras.
I wish the author would look up Brown and/or Oxford academic programs before he or she tries to write about them. First of all, she hasn’t transferred to Oxford! She’s doing her junior year abroad there, in Worcester College’s Visiting Student Program like many American juniors from Brown and other universities do. Also, Oxford has a trimester system and so have 3 sessions of 8-week terms punctuated by 7 week breaks. If you checked Oxford’s dates of terms, you would see that, yes, they’re on break now and will be for the rest of the month. Most college students (me included) spend this time sitting in front of the computer and tv doing nothing. If she decides to act in a movie during her break, then I think that’s quite impressive.
She only played Hermione Granger in the movies…
What I don’t understand is why she’s getting any job offers. She’s a cute girl, but she can’t act her way out of a paper bag. Maybe she’s friends with important people — I’m sure Hollywood values connections more than talent.
emma watson has little to no acting talent, thats right but so do lots of other big stars in hollywood. network and image are more important than acting talent.
Harvey weinstein! That is her friend and her mogul.
She’s recently become one of Harvey Weinstein’s girls. That’s her connection there.
Can we just give her a break with this? Plenty of students take time out from their studies to work or pursue interests outside the scope of a university campus. And she seems to be fitting some of these projects into her school breaks. A lot of people don’t wrap up college in eight consecutive semesters, Young Hollywood or not. Harping on the particulars of her projected class scheduling is getting silly.
Why is Sofia Coppola making this movie, and why is she calling it “The Bling Ring”?!! – that’s a terrible title for a movie.
She’s riding on her HP fame and is probably trying to take all the opportunities that come her way at the present… Who knows when Hollywood will tire of her because the industry is so fickle. As long as you’re enrolled at a university (especially an Ivy league or Oxbridge), it’s not going anywhere… She has the freedom to take up acting opportunities and return to her studies when she has time. It’s not like she’s the ‘typical’ university student, who is strapped for cash and is in school to boost their earning potential and create a career. She’s in school because she probably values education, but not because she needs a degree to boost her earnings in acting etc. Just my two cents..
I couldn’t watch those Harry potter movies. Not my taste
I don’t get your beef with this, most people ‘educate’ themselves to get a good job to make money, not for the sake of ‘educating’ themselves or being ‘studious and intellectually industrious’ (it’s quite expensive and time comsuming to go to college for fun or to better your mind no?).
You don’t need to go to college to ‘educate’ yourself, especially if you have a bazillion dollars and don’t NEED a degree to get a job like so many people do.
She doesn’t have to act, either. She has more money than she could ever possibly need. So obviously she’s someone who needs to work to enjoy life.
Being bright, she also realizes he odds are against her getting regular work after she ages out of her prime years. She wants to be qualified to do something interesting to her, and that requires a college degree.
It’s not about NEEDING to go to college, it’s about wanting to use high level critical thinking and analytical skills because that is what fulfills her. Having a lot of money can’t confer these skills on its own.
And she would need to do that right now because…? Why? She has enough money to do it at her leisure and anywhere she wants to, she doesn’t have to go straight into college and finish a degree as soon as she can like most people do out of necessity (yes, my comment WAS about need).
I don’t know what you are arguing about really, I was just disagreeing with the author on why she is always on her back about not finishing her degree as she can do it at any time if she wants to. There’s no time limit on education for her and she’s really young.
I’m starting to despair of Sofia Coppola as a filmmaker.
Can’t she tell a story involving something other than well-accessorized slackers swanning photogenically around expensive locations?
Her movies are always beautifully photographed, but content-wise she’s starting to seem like a one-trick pony, and like most people I didn’t even bother with her last movie (actor swanning around LA hotel with his prepubescent daughter).
I feel like many celebrities go to college and do movies. In order to accommodate filming schedules, many celebrities will take several leaves of absences from their studies. Emma is not the first celebrity to do this nor is she the last. If it takes her 10 years to get her BA, that’s her choice! I don’t understand why people get their panties in a wad about this.
Oh, give her a break, I am roughly her age and I do value education, am a really ambitious b****, in fact I’ll finish med school next year but if someone offered me to do a movie with Sofia Coppola, well I’d luckily postpone my graduation for that.
So – let her work, she is allowed to have fun and yes, working hard at university isn’t always that much fun – so cut her some slack.
i love sofia coppola. haters gonna hate.
I think you’re beint too harsh with her.
Emma doesn’t mess with her face, doesn’t party that much, we don’t hear about her being a drunk or a coke mess, she doesn’t flash her panties. She is nearly boring for godsake!
She does only two thing: work, and university, she has stopped university to work, is that terrible?
You forgot to include the Wyoming Caucuses on Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012. So there was 11 races, not 10.
Bottom line… if she get’s her degree in the end it doesn’t matter how many movies she does or how many times she leaves then goes back to school. If she quits completely at some point then Echee and others are justified in their criticism. This has not happened yet though!
She only played Hermione Granger in the movies