Did Emma Watson Retire From Acting After Harry Potter?

For the first decade of her acting career, between the ages of 10 and 20, Emma Watson focused almost entirely on playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films. During this time, she appeared in all eight films in the franchise, while also voicing Princess Pea in 2008's The Tale of Despereaux and playing Pauline Fossil in the 2007 TV movie Ballet Shoes.

Her only other television appearances have been as herself. She had a cameo in The Vicar of Dibley and also appeared in Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.

Post-Potter

She didn't stop acting after her time in the wizarding world. In fact, she has a long and varied filmography, including a role in Little Women and a live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.

In 2011, the same year as Deathly Hallows Pt. 2, Watson also appeared as Lucy Armstrong in the biographical drama My Week with Marilyn. She then had a role in a film every year until 2017, when she played Mae Holland in The Circle. She had no acting credits in 2018, but was back on the big screen in 2019 as Meg in Little Women.

Advocacy and business

Away from acting, she does a lot of advocacy work, sits on the board of Kering, which owns major fashion brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent, and has created a gin brand with her brother Alex.

Although she hasn't acted since 2019, Watson hasn't closed that avenue, despite concerns from some fans following an interview in the Financial Times Magazine earlier this year. Speaking about her absence from films, she said, 'I wasn't very happy if I'm being honest. I think I felt a bit caged.'

That's only natural, given that she'd been working pretty much full-time for 18 years, since the age of 10. But when asked if she would be acting again, she dismissed rumours that she had given it up for good.

Acting is still on the agenda

As for acting, she said: 'I'm happy to sit and wait for the next right thing. I love what I do. It's finding a way to do it where I don't have to fracture myself into different faces and people. And I just don't want to switch into robot mode anymore.'

So fear not. When the right opportunity comes along, we can expect to see Emma Watson back on our screens doing what she does best.