Emma Watson covers the new issue of ELLE, all part of her promotional work for Noah. Personally, I think Noah looks awful, like the biblical version of Waterworld (which for you youngsters, was a notorious bomb which kneecapped Kevin Costner’s career for a good decade). But, that being said, I’m glad that Emma is out there promoting the film and I have to say that I think this photoshoot is lovely. I wouldn’t have chosen these clothes for her, but her styling is pretty and her hair looks fantastic. Here are some highlights from the ELLE interview:
Emma Watson on coming of age in the public eye: “There are all these actresses who have emerged in the last year or two, and they get to emerge as this complete human being. And I’m so jealous!”
Emma Watson on the importance of having a life outside of her acting career: “I remember reading this thing that Elizabeth Taylor wrote. She had her first kiss in character. On a movie set. It really struck me. I don’t know how or why, but I had this sense that if I wasn’t really careful, that could be me. That my first kiss could be in somebody else’s clothes. And my experiences could all belong to someone else.”
On Noah, Darren Aronofsky’s $125 million dollar blockbuster, and what it was like playing Noah’s adopted daughter, Ila: “It’s Shakespearean, what happens to this family when they’re put in this confined space for 40 days and 40 nights. It’s the end of the world – how these different human beings are dealing with the impact of that. Are humans good? Are we bad? All of these themes are epic.”
Darren Aronofsky on Emma’s steely nerve while filming Noah: “We started off with one of Emma’s hardest scenes. We shot in Iceland on a beach with an extremely difficult weather situation. The force of the wind – we could barely hear the actors. The sun kept coming in and out. We had to wait for the right light, then, Go, go, go! Then, Wait, wait, wait! She was able to block out all those ridiculous external forces and just focus on the emotion at hand.”
It’s good to see Aronofsky and Watson playing nice after she publicly complained about the water bottle issue in another interview. As for the quote about “emerge as this complete human being” – I’m not sure if I understand her. Is she saying that because she was a child star, she’s struggled to define herself as an adult actress who has successfully transitioned? That she’s jealous of actresses who get to define themselves as adults from the get-go? Or is she saying that she wishes she had more outside interests and she’s jealous of women who aren’t defined solely by a franchise? It can be read in different ways.
Photos courtesy of Carter Smith/ELLE.
She’s lovely. If only she could act.
She was good in the first two HP films, but later she played Hermione so wrong.
She was more concerned with looking pretty than nailing down her role as Hermione. It’s been a long time since I read the HP books, but I thought Hermione was supposed to have been nerdy with big hair and buck teeth. Emma only wore a bushy hair wig in the first film. Then she went all glam with her character after that. I really wish that they had chosen an attractive yet average looking girl with acting chomps who would have been more willing to go all out with this character even if it meant looking nerdy and lacking fashion sense until later in the series.
I find it funny that people blame Emma for Hermione’s appearance. They were not going to let a kid make the decisions in a expensive film franchise. Those decisions were made by people higher up.
They started filming when she was 9. They weren’t choosing a kid based on attractiveness.
Do you seriously think that’s a decision an actor/actress makes, particularly a child actor/actress? No way. Sometimes in small budget films a big star (who is doing the film for way less money than market value) might be able to use his/her name to influence wardrobe/hair/make-up decisions, but those are absolute exceptions. Nobody gave a f*** what Emma Watson thought, I can guarantee you that.
Well Hermione did fix her teeth in the books. She got some spell put on her to make her teeth longer; and she had that nurse women fix them.
I don’t really follow Emma that much. I love the HP books/films. I don’t know most of these young women actresses are kind of interchangeable. I think they are all trying very hard to be interesting and stand out.
I actually loved her in the latter hp films. I don’t understand all the comments on here about her ‘not coming out as a big movie star landing roles’ and stuff. She was in the bling ring, which was so-so I admit, and in Perks of Walkflower, which was excellent, and now Noah with an awesome director. Just because she isn’t Lawrence, or being pushed out like Shayshay, doesn’t mean she can’t act or isn’t a legit actress. I doubt we’ll ever see oscars, but I think she’s holding on her own well. She’s harmless, not going crazy, has a solid head, and seems to be an enjoyable person to work with who does her job as she should. I’m liking her more and more.
I like her as a person, but she can’t act. And why is harmless a compliment?
I grew up with Harry Potter and she just didn’t do justice to the character I loved and cared for so much. It’s not just the fact that she was to pretty, her acting was average at best.
@Tatjana
Aside from the adult roles, most of the acting in the HP films was as you describe. Emma seems to be the only one you is routinely attacked for it, never the guys.
I don’t think that she’s that bad. And I still have to laugh when seeing the first Harry Potter-films – all three of them have at most two facial expressions. They were kids, so it’s understandable, but still funny. 🙂
Oh, and I loved her as Hermione. Her hair should have been bigger, but who cares. She was lovely in my opinion.
Tatjana: I consider Lohan harmful because of her abusing herself and acting like a fool, I consider Watson the opposite of that…I used ‘harmless’ for lack of a better word :). Anyway, Watson has been much busier than what people seem to seen. She’s been in a decent amount of movies, none of which were dumb or awful, works with great directors, and just seems like a well-rounded gal. As for acting, I think she’s better than average and isn’t using her HP fame to land big stuff…unlike KStew who mystifyingly gets movie projects just because she was Teilight girl. Also, I echo that you’re only pointing out her as Hermione and nobody else in HP. The HP franchise just isn’t that great (the movies) honestly, and A LOT of the actors didn’t quite match the part, but I thought they all matured well during the last few films, which I thought were pretty excellent.
She’s pretty great in The Bling Ring — she gave a darkly comedic performance that, I think, was overlooked — at least by The Globes for supporting.
I actually found Daniel Radcliffe very wooden as Harry for the most part, particularly in Half-Blood Prince…he spends so much of that film expressionless. I do understand he was having problems with alcohol at the time so that might explain it. Emma Watson was really charismatic and special in the first two films, I thought. Then she couldn’t quite break out of that precocious style of acting when she got into her teens. From Film 3 to Film 6, she over-emphasised all her words and had crazy eyebrows. But I think she improved big time with the final two Deathly Hallows movies. I thought that scene where she had to wipe her parents minds was heartbreaking and that was all in Emma’s facial expressions. I thought she has done some great acting work post-Potter as has Radcliffe. Both are not quite Oscar-worthy yet but both seem to improve with every film role.
Rupert Grint was always consistently great so it’s a shame he’s doing the worst – career wise – out of the trio.
She was my favourite in the first two films. But after that, the guys started improving, and she got worse. I don’t know what happened. I think people react so strongly because HP meant do much to us. I was 8 when the first film came ouz. HP was a huge part of my childhood. Twilight, Hunger games and other YA fantasy never came close.
As for Rupert, he was in a play called Mojo and got great rewievs.
Spot on Sean
Well to be fair, Harry as a character is a little wooden, and by that I mean that he’s a bit lost and confused most of the time, unless he has to be brave – he’s not a standout type of personality.
This is from the books at least, I avoided the movies as much as I could.
Rupert is and will always be my favorite. He played that character wonderfully.
Ron’s character actually is the only one that had more layers. It’s hard to be the friend of the most famous wizard in the world; always second. And the brother that is the least interesting. Rupert was Ron. Harry and Hermione were OK.. but Ron forever.
I used to like her. It is a pity she appears a lot more in magazine covers than movies. Maybe because she can dress on yet she can’t act? :/
I was about to type the same thing. I haven’t seen her in any large or critically acclaimed roles since she finished Harry Potter. I don’t think she’s much of an actress. She is known for being a fashion girl. She does a lot of magazines and gets endorsements, but I doubt she will have a successful long-term acting career. I think her fame has real staying power though. Lots of guys love her, she has a strong fan base, fashion designers love her…she will end up being well known for not doing much, kind of like Jennifer Aniston. Just a happenstance celebrity known for a role she did a long time ago.
perks of being a wallflower was a pretty big hit with critics
If you look Emma up on Rotten Tomatoes, all of her films bar one have mostly positive reviews. Her one “rotten film” is The Tale of Despereaux which more than 50% of critics gave enjoyed. So while Watson hasn’t ever taken on a lead role, she knows how/is lucky to be involved in great projects. That might change with Noah though…
She appears in mag covers because she’s always promoting stuff. She’s busier than we thought – Bling ring, This is the End, Noah, Wallflower. She’s being handled by good directors. Whatever will be the outcome of Noah, it’s still an Aronofsky film. She’s also a full time student.
Pretty, but a very limited actress.She`s lucky to be getting covers.
But the bar is so low – do you realize Elle’s cover the month before was Dakota Johnson? Something like 2 bit parts to her name and a trashy book adaptation that isn’t even out yet….
Dang Hermione! You lookin’ good girl.
Hermione will always be my sunshine.
I think the “complete human being” thing is not being able to completely define yourself because as a child star it was all done for her. Now that she’s older she can spread her wings and find out whats up.
I think she’s complaining about only being seen as Hermione–which is a given, because she played the character for ten years, and hasn’t done anything noteworthy since, besides go to college and go to a ton of fashion events. If she really wanted to change that perception, she could actually start doing more movies and less fashion crap. And take an acting class or ten while she’s at it. She can’t act, and she was the worse thing in the last three films.
Never whine on the role thanks to whom you became famous because it’s thanks of him you continue to work ( it works also for Hemsworth or Chris Evans)
I don’t see her whining…she’s just staying she’s ‘jealous’ which I took as joke. Stuff looks worse in print than in person. She’s never whined about HP, and to think she’s suddenly whining about what made her famous is kind of dumb.
Acting classes are the way to go. Because I honestly think she would love to play in noteworthy things, but there is quite a competition out there. On the other hand, even Kristen Stewart gets roles, and she’s hardly worse…
I think that Emma wants to be ‘in’ with the bigger directors. Because, come on, if she REALLY wanted to, she could do little indie films, for some critical acclaim. If she REALLY wanted to, she could start a production company (she may be YOUNG, but she has a shit ton of money) and start developing films for herself. She’s done a (supporting part) YA film, a bit part in a Weinstein film, a (supporting party) film with Sofia Coppola, and now a supporting part in a film with Affronsky–she wants to work with ‘big’ directors/films. They’re probably casting her because she has that built in audience–the people that worship the HP movies. I grew up watching them, and I think Emma is, at best, meh.
Give it a year or two–Harry Potter ended in 2011, so she’s got a few more years before she’s just going to be known as a fashion girl who’s lucky she was in HP, because she can’t act for s h i t.
I think the way she choses her roles isn’t even that bad (as you said, acclaimed directors, variety, etc.) On the other hand I agree, she does too much fashion stuff. I think Luke Windsor just loves his ducklings in shiny magazines, no matter if as actors or fashion icons.
Having said that I’m not sure if her HP fame will die down anytime soon. The HP fans have proven themselves a lot more stable than the Twilight fans for example. I think it really comes down to a whole generation growing up with it – I’m no exception. I mean, I can still name the only two Slytherin headmasters Hogwarts ever got haha..
VC, you didn’t like her in The Perks of Being a Wallflower? I thought she was lovely and vulnerable in that role.
I think that she’s a big ‘meh’ in the acting department….not outright awful, she gets the job done, but she doesn’t really channel in any energy into it.
I think the “complete human being ” comment is fairly obvious. You know that people probably run up on her on the street and still call her Hermione , and not Emma. To some people she will always be ‘hermione’ or ‘that Harry Potter’ girl.
Meanwhile, J-law isnt just the ‘winter’s bone’ chick, or Katniss, She is Oscar winning actress Jennifer Lawrence. So, I believe this is what she means.
That said, I do hope she breaks out into a solo actress. she has done alot of work since HP7, but hasnt been a lead in a film yet. Hope Noah is a bridge for that, she certainly is less insufferable than alot of ‘it’ actresses out now (cough, rooney mara,, cough anne hathaway, cough)
Omg, the insufferability of Rooney Mara. At least, Anne backed it up with multiple good performances. That being said, I’m already exhausted enough by Shailene Woodley’s press game so can we just pretend that Rooney Mara was a figment of our imaginations until Divergent comes out or when she starts going on the PR for Trash and the Terrence malick thing.
i wonder if it’s because they’re in the franchise for too long and does very little in between (can’t help it, they had been very young, and had to split between school and HP anyway).
even Daniel Radcliffe has a hard time transitioning out from Harry Potter to Daniel Radcliffe the person. you just have to keep chipping away at the past character (appearing in one movie to another, stage, screen, big screen, small screen, sci fi, period drama, etc… helps if you’re a versatile actor, obv). or do something radical like Miley until you can’t reconcile the old one and the new one. i prefer the DanRad way.
but so many child actors can’t transition properly, like Mac Culkin is always the Home Alone. He used to be the Boy at Home Alone, and now as he’s grown up, he looks like the Boy Who’s Been Left in the Home Basement for Too Long.
i also understand about her “confusion” thing. for years her HP-set-life mimics real life as in, when you’re not in a real class room, you’re in a fake classroom. when you’re not getting reamed by the PE teacher, your getting your ass handed to you by your DADA teacher. when you flunked your Chem Class, suddenly it’s Take Two: Snape on your Case… and cut.
it can be a pretty confusing thing to reconcile in your head, like you have two sets of life, the mundane muggle life and the magical movie-set life colliding with one another. (imagine if one of the kids were a method actor)….
I think she was talking about becoming famous before you have fully developed as a human being. The people who become famous after they’re adults don’t have to suffer their growing pains in public. They (theoretically) know who they are and aren’t struggling with that aspect of life in addition to the sudden fame. I do think it would be difficult to be a child star for that reason.
That’s how I interpreted too.
That’s how I read it as well. I still love her and think she has such a pretty face.
Emma is lovely, beautiful indeed but she needs to change her hair colour! This reddish mess is awful. She looked her best in that brunette wig she wore for the Bling Ring.
She looked awful with hair that dark. She should go back to the colour she had in HP.
Kaiser, SNAP! Every time I’ve seen Noah mentioned, Waterworld has popped into my head also.
I think when Emma says “complete human being” she means that the actresses emerging onto the scene now didn’t have to transition from child/teenager/adult in the public eye. They are showing up on the scene now as adults and no one is constantly comparing or referring to their previously awkward or incomplete forms or stages.
That’s how I read it too.
JLaw can play teenagers (Katniss) and older characters (Silver Lining Playbook, American Hustle).
But I think that is because Emma Watson has a young looking face. And JLaw looks older,
I think JLaw is frequently miscast in roles she is not old enough for–she looks really young. I liked her in Winter’s Bone and she’s great in The Hunger Games, but she was way too young for SLP. I still can’t believe she won an Oscar for that performance.
Emma is adorable (I agree she looks younger than JLaw). My 15 year old describes her as “the most beautiful woman alive,” LOL, so I think a lot of this is perspective.
I just remember how she adorably fangirled over Robin Wright at the Golden Globes and I can’t believe she’s a jealous b!itch
Love that cover.
I’m with those who think she means not having grown up in the public eye. Her life has never been her own. Since the age of 9, she’s been world famous and hasn’t had the same opportunities as the rest of us to grow, change, live and make mistakes on the journey to becoming an adult. All of the things she was supposed to do in private have been available for public consumption. She’s got a lot in return for that but I don’t blame her for being jealous of others
I think she’s jealous of actresses who have talent and personality, unlike her. I don’t even know if I can call her an actress, she’s lousy at it.
She’s basically a pretty girl who got lucky as a child and has been milking that stroke of luck ever since.
She looks gorgeous, but those clothes are the worst. Especially those jeans in the double denim pic. Just horrific.
Seriously, just NO with that all denim outfit, who is she supposed to be Chuck Norris??
Side comment: every time I read the word “photoshoot” my mind registers it as “photoshop”.
I don’t mind Watson. I think her comment was referring to her child stardom and how child stars have a difficult time becoming successful adult actors.
I sometimes see people say that she’s left Potter behind and she really hasn’t. Nobody watched or cared about The Bling Ring and Perks got good reviews but it didn’t rocket her away from Hermione. She’s young and still has time to make a career for herself as a serious adult actressbut she has to start fully focusing on her career to make that happen.
Regarding Water World, why was everyone so dirty when they were surrounded by water? Is Noah like that?
Because Kevin Costner wanted to look rough and dirty, so that the ladies will swoon… or something.
She looks so lovely but she is average at best as an actress and she doesn’t seem to try to better herself. Daniel was even worse but he at least tried/tries.
Poor Dam, I’m not impressed with his acting. I loved Wonan in Black, but he in no way fit pthat part lol.
I have to agree about both Emma and Daniel. I think Daniel has improved over the years but he’s no great shakes as an actor. Emma would benefit from acting classes, as someone mentioned up the thread. At least, though, Daniel is trying to take parts that challenge him and I have to give him credit for doing stage, film, and trying television (with the Young Doctor’s Handbook). It seems like Rupert Grint is starting to take a page of Daniel’s handbook as well, having done Mojo on stage in London.
I think another part with Emma is that she desperately wants to be seen as something different then Hermione and either isn’t sure how to go about getting those parts or just isn’t getting cast for them (I do think she cut the hair short in an attempt to get cast for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo but then said she needed something different after HP).
I agree @mom2two EW wants to be in blockbuster movies and become one of biggest movie stars. But instead of working on her acting, she sells herself as ‘beautiful fashion icon’.
And i think Daniel might find himself a good place in indie movies.
In spite of his money and success, I feel deeply sorry for DR. He is not the one who has driven his career. Since the end of HP, he has been aggressively marketed as a leading man, a Serious Actor and a Triple Threat and he is none of these things. He most certainly is a cash-cow. There are reasons why he has had the issues with alcohol.
RG is probably the best adjusted of the lot; he enjoys his money and success and seems very happy with his big houses and car collection even though he doesn’t do much and also can’t act. I get a sense that he’s very much at peace with that.
EW is getting very annoying. Either go all out, work on your acting and be an actress or quit pretending, do cosmetics ads and go full famewhore. But STOP with the biting the hand that fed you.
What nonsense. Daniel has received excellent reviews for his stage work, Kill Your Darlings, and his television series. He’s also received great reviews at TIFF for his upcoming films. All of his projects have been leading roles and diverse. He’s shown much more range and versatility than either Emma or Rupert.
I like Daniel’s acting..he’s good. I haven’t read many of his interviews, but I’ve never really read him being sold as a sex symbol–a serious, method-y actor, yes. I think he knows his limitations—he’s not going to be ‘the hot guy’, and I think that suits him just fine……
@miriam, I don’t know where you’re getting those from – my favourite DR review was the (very kind) one about his Broadway performance in How to Succceed in Business (Without Really Trying) where they said he was “almost as good” as the rest of the cast.
Whatever. I like her. She seems very normal and not like all of the other little starlets flitting around everywhere. She seems like a nice person. Nice pics as well.
I love her. She seems a lovely, well-adjusted young woman, and I also happen to enjoy her acting as well.
This is a fantastic photoshoot I must say.
A friend of mine knew her at Brown and said she was a nice girl and incredibly smart. I actually think she’s very attractive and talented, so I have never understood the hate she brings out in some people (not in this particular thread or site, really, but I have seen some really nasty remarks about her in the last couple of years.)
Love her.
And she’s always pretty, but with that makeup she’s truly stunning.
I always read her interviews and Emma loves Hermione, she is very grateful to Potter. But I see what she is saying. It’s not easy growing up in the spotlight, there are many disastrous examples.
Despite this, she seems to have made a fine transition from child star to adult.
Also I have to say Emma is a beautiful girl and I like her acting, she was lovely in Perks of Being a Wallflower, very fun in Bling Ring and I think she was great as Hermione in Deathly Hallows.
I didn’t read Harry potter or see the movies. After watching her in perks of being a wallflower and the bling ring…..ya she sucks at acting and should look for something away from the camera.