Emma - Articles/Press - Teen Vogue 2009.
Teen Vogue 2009
EMMA ENCHANTED:
Emma Watson has magically transformed from Harry Potters precocious overachiever to a full blown glamour girl. Now the sassy star starts her next act - college.
She was just shy of ten years old when she took on the role of Hermione Granger, the bookish, bushy haired sidekick to the titular hero of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. So feverishly anticipated was that first film - and so beloved were it's four sequels (the fifth, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, hits theatres this month) - that Emma Watson, now nineteen, has been world-famous for more than half her life.
That kind of reknown has it's downsides: Although the famously rabid British tabloids were (relatively) hands-off during the actresses adolecense, they celebrated her eighteenth birthday by sending so many paparazzi to cover her London party that "I literally couldn't get out of the door at the end of the night." (The worst thing," she said indignantly "was that they laid down on the pavement and took pictures up my skirt. Now i'm going to wear cycling shorts whenever i get out of a car." Her year long romance with financer Jay Barrymore is reportedly "on/off," but Emma insists that they've actually been consistently together, and that "the only reason its on/off is because the papers make up so much rubbish!"
But observe the actress at her third Teen Vogue cover shoot-which takes place at a sprawling old English country manor that promises, in it's brochure, both Norman castle ruins and interesting shrubs" - and you'll quickly see how Emma benefitted from growing up inside a fishbowl. For one thing, she is enviably self-posessed. Even when the pair of miniature horses she'd been asked to lead picturesquely down a garden path become overexcited, and awaits her next direction.
And even when dressed in impossibly high heels, wild patterned leggings, and a poufy mini, with her hair piled precariously in top of her head, and fastened with brightly coloured netting, Emma's poised enough to prevent the clothes from wearing her.
Fashion, in fact, has long been of particular interest to Emma. She's worn enough big-night Chanel to become friendly with Karl Lagerfeld, the lines iconic designer- "it's kind of my lucky brand," she exclaims, "a fail-safe" - and lately she has been branching out, experimenting with Balenciaga, Burberry, (for whom she's a fall face), Mui Mui, Alice Temperly, and a little- known Englishmen named William Tempest, whose deisgns she first spotted at an up and comers event called Fashion Fringe.
When she's not premiere hopping, she says, "i live, really in jeans from Topshop, blazers from Ralph Lauren or Reiss and ballet flats."
"It's hard to describe my own style," she admits, and i'm young so i'm still experimenting. But i think it's quite British and very much about individuality." Emma says she prefers to pull her own party dresses, but even when she's short on time and must work with a stylist, she careful to ,make sure the resulting outfits don't look overdone. As she explains " There's nothing interesting about looking perfect - you lose the point. You want what your wearing to say something about you, about who you are."
Of course, personal style pretty much goes out the window when Emma's spending six days a week working on Harry Potter, as she has done since last February. Much of her performance in Half Blood Prince focuses on Hermione's not-quite-budding romance with buddy Ron - "At the beginning," Emma says "It looks like they're finally on they're way to been together, but of course Ron screws it up. So she's jealous, and doesn't quite realise it, and they have all these arguments." Meanwhile, Harry's hot on the trail of the eponymous potions Wizard and trying to convince their new professor, Slughorn to reveal some crucial information about Harry's evil nemesis Voldemort. All in all, a very exciting plot, even if Emma has to strain to remember it. The seventh book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is been split into two films, which means that she's currently promoting one movie, shooting another, and in pre-production on a third. "i don't think i've ever been this tired in my entire life!" she says "I literally wear my pajama bottoms to set. I roll out of bed and i put on a hoodie and some Ugg boots."
This current wardrobe will, at least, fit right in at college, which Emma plans to start in the Fall. Her schedule will be tight with filming but as Emma puts it "I've always wanted to go to University, since i was eleven, so if they don't let me, i'll be pretty upset." (she'll likely have to shoot over her winter break, she says and since the plot does involve polyjuice potion - "Helena Bowham Carter" will be playing Hermione for a bit.)
It's not uncommon for working actresses Emma's age to apply to college, but she is quite unique in her determination to give it a serious go.
Perhaps that's because she's still not 100% sure she even wants to be a movie star when she grows up.
"There not, like a burning passion in me," she admits "that i have to act and i don't care what i do. Until something comes along that i feel as strongly about as i did Hermione - i don't want to act again."
Instead she'll study English Literature and art, though exactly where, she won't say. (Cambridge, Brown and Yale are all heavily favoured by the internet rumour mill, but given her insane popularity in the UK, and the overly aggressive paparazzi, it's likely she'll end up in the states.)
"I just want to keep it private for as long as i can," she explains "I probably sound like a paranoid nut but i'm doing this because i want to be normal. I really want anonymity." Emma even intends to live with a roommate in the freshman dorms, a decision which Dan Radcliffe told her was crazy.
"But i want to doo it properly, like everyone else. As long as i don't walk in," she adds jokingly, "and see Harry Potter posters everywhere i'll be fine."
Emma Watson has magically transformed from Harry Potters precocious overachiever to a full blown glamour girl. Now the sassy star starts her next act - college.
She was just shy of ten years old when she took on the role of Hermione Granger, the bookish, bushy haired sidekick to the titular hero of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. So feverishly anticipated was that first film - and so beloved were it's four sequels (the fifth, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, hits theatres this month) - that Emma Watson, now nineteen, has been world-famous for more than half her life.
That kind of reknown has it's downsides: Although the famously rabid British tabloids were (relatively) hands-off during the actresses adolecense, they celebrated her eighteenth birthday by sending so many paparazzi to cover her London party that "I literally couldn't get out of the door at the end of the night." (The worst thing," she said indignantly "was that they laid down on the pavement and took pictures up my skirt. Now i'm going to wear cycling shorts whenever i get out of a car." Her year long romance with financer Jay Barrymore is reportedly "on/off," but Emma insists that they've actually been consistently together, and that "the only reason its on/off is because the papers make up so much rubbish!"
But observe the actress at her third Teen Vogue cover shoot-which takes place at a sprawling old English country manor that promises, in it's brochure, both Norman castle ruins and interesting shrubs" - and you'll quickly see how Emma benefitted from growing up inside a fishbowl. For one thing, she is enviably self-posessed. Even when the pair of miniature horses she'd been asked to lead picturesquely down a garden path become overexcited, and awaits her next direction.
And even when dressed in impossibly high heels, wild patterned leggings, and a poufy mini, with her hair piled precariously in top of her head, and fastened with brightly coloured netting, Emma's poised enough to prevent the clothes from wearing her.
Fashion, in fact, has long been of particular interest to Emma. She's worn enough big-night Chanel to become friendly with Karl Lagerfeld, the lines iconic designer- "it's kind of my lucky brand," she exclaims, "a fail-safe" - and lately she has been branching out, experimenting with Balenciaga, Burberry, (for whom she's a fall face), Mui Mui, Alice Temperly, and a little- known Englishmen named William Tempest, whose deisgns she first spotted at an up and comers event called Fashion Fringe.
When she's not premiere hopping, she says, "i live, really in jeans from Topshop, blazers from Ralph Lauren or Reiss and ballet flats."
"It's hard to describe my own style," she admits, and i'm young so i'm still experimenting. But i think it's quite British and very much about individuality." Emma says she prefers to pull her own party dresses, but even when she's short on time and must work with a stylist, she careful to ,make sure the resulting outfits don't look overdone. As she explains " There's nothing interesting about looking perfect - you lose the point. You want what your wearing to say something about you, about who you are."
Of course, personal style pretty much goes out the window when Emma's spending six days a week working on Harry Potter, as she has done since last February. Much of her performance in Half Blood Prince focuses on Hermione's not-quite-budding romance with buddy Ron - "At the beginning," Emma says "It looks like they're finally on they're way to been together, but of course Ron screws it up. So she's jealous, and doesn't quite realise it, and they have all these arguments." Meanwhile, Harry's hot on the trail of the eponymous potions Wizard and trying to convince their new professor, Slughorn to reveal some crucial information about Harry's evil nemesis Voldemort. All in all, a very exciting plot, even if Emma has to strain to remember it. The seventh book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is been split into two films, which means that she's currently promoting one movie, shooting another, and in pre-production on a third. "i don't think i've ever been this tired in my entire life!" she says "I literally wear my pajama bottoms to set. I roll out of bed and i put on a hoodie and some Ugg boots."
This current wardrobe will, at least, fit right in at college, which Emma plans to start in the Fall. Her schedule will be tight with filming but as Emma puts it "I've always wanted to go to University, since i was eleven, so if they don't let me, i'll be pretty upset." (she'll likely have to shoot over her winter break, she says and since the plot does involve polyjuice potion - "Helena Bowham Carter" will be playing Hermione for a bit.)
It's not uncommon for working actresses Emma's age to apply to college, but she is quite unique in her determination to give it a serious go.
Perhaps that's because she's still not 100% sure she even wants to be a movie star when she grows up.
"There not, like a burning passion in me," she admits "that i have to act and i don't care what i do. Until something comes along that i feel as strongly about as i did Hermione - i don't want to act again."
Instead she'll study English Literature and art, though exactly where, she won't say. (Cambridge, Brown and Yale are all heavily favoured by the internet rumour mill, but given her insane popularity in the UK, and the overly aggressive paparazzi, it's likely she'll end up in the states.)
"I just want to keep it private for as long as i can," she explains "I probably sound like a paranoid nut but i'm doing this because i want to be normal. I really want anonymity." Emma even intends to live with a roommate in the freshman dorms, a decision which Dan Radcliffe told her was crazy.
"But i want to doo it properly, like everyone else. As long as i don't walk in," she adds jokingly, "and see Harry Potter posters everywhere i'll be fine."