Why Emma Watson Almost Quit Acting After Harry Potter (And We Would Support Her)

One thing about child actors is that they're almost completely deprived of the right to choose what to do with their lives.

Starting acting at a very young age can help you build a fortune by the time your average Joe gets out of college, but surrounded by parents, agents, and studio bosses who have the authority, these kids are often left without the ability to make their own life decisions.

This was the case with many of the Harry Potter stars. Despite being loved and cherished around the world, these kids were forced to stay on the big screen from the age of 11 until the end of filming the final film in the franchise.

However, Emma Watson, who portrayed none other than Hermione Granger, had some serious doubts about continuing to act after the franchise ended in 2011.

In true Hermione fashion, the actress was ready to leave it all behind to pursue higher education at Brown University where she got accepted the year of the last Harry Potter movie’s premiere. Watson opened up about the thought process behind that decision in a 2013 interview with EW:

“For a while I kind of bought into the hype of, ‘Will they ever be able to play anything else?’ It gave me a sense of paralysis and stage fright for a while. And then a professor told me that they didn’t think I should act, either. So I was really grappling with it and wasn’t feeling good about it,” the actress shared.

Although the odds seemed stacked against the actress' comeback to the big screen, Watson was never one to give up. Instead, she decided to embrace the doubts of those around her and continue to pursue both her education and her acting career.

Luckily, around this time, the actress received a script for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which gave her the inspiration she needed and sealed the deal for her. Since then, Watson has become known not only for her acting but also for her strong stance on social issues.

If you want to see what made the story behind The Perks of Being a Wallflower so appealing to the actress, you can stream the movie on Amazon Prime Video.

Source: EW