Emma Watson Biography

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson

Born: 15 April 1990

Birthplace: Paris, France

Nationality: British

Alma mater: Brown University (BA)

Occupation: Actressactivist

Years active: 1999–present

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is a French-born British actress and activist. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her women's rights work, she has received a selection of accolades, including a Young Artist Award and three MTV Movie Awards. Watson has been ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses by Forbes and Vanity Fair and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2015.

Watson attended the Dragon School and trained in acting at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. As a child, she rose to stardom after landing her first professional acting role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series, having previously acted only in school plays.

1999–2009: Harry Potter and worldwide recognition

In 1999, casting began for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the film adaptation of British author J. K. Rowling's best-selling novel. Casting agents found Watson through her Oxford theatre teacher, and producers were impressed by her confidence. After eight auditions, producer David Heyman told Watson and fellow applicants Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint that they had been cast in the roles of the school friends Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley, respectively. Rowling supported Watson from her first screen test. Watson's filming for the final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the highest-grossing film in the franchise, it grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide and proved to be Watson's most commercially successful film to date.

2010–present: Independent films and mainstream work

After the final Harry Potter film, she took on a supporting role in My Week with Marilyn (2011), before starring as Sam, a flirtatious, free-spirited student in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) to critical success. Further acclaim came from portraying Alexis Neiers in Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring (2013) and the titular character's adoptive daughter in Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic Noah. That same year, Watson was honored by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, winning British Artist of the Year. She also starred as Belle in the live-action adaptation of the musical romantic fantasy Beauty and the Beast (2017), which ranks among the highest-grossing films of all time, and Meg March in Greta Gerwig's coming-of-age drama Little Women (2019).

From 2011 to 2014, Watson split her time between working on films and continuing her education, graduating from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in English literature in May 2014. That year, she was appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and helped launch the UN Women campaign HeForShe, which advocates for gender equality. In 2018, she helped launch Time's Up UK as a founding member. Watson was appointed to a G7 advisory body for women's rights in 2019, consulting with leaders on foreign policy. Her modeling work has included campaigns for Burberry and Lancôme. She also lent her name to a clothing line for the sustainable brand People Tree. In 2020, she joined the board of directors of Kering, a luxury brand group, in her capacity as an advocate for sustainable fashion.

Fashion career

In 2005, Watson began her modeling career with a photo shoot for Teen Vogue, which made her the youngest person to cover the magazine. Watson continued her involvement in fashion advertising when she announced she had been chosen as the face of Lancôme in March 2011.

In September 2009, Watson announced her involvement with People Tree, a fair trade fashion brand. She says "Fashion is a great way to empower people and give them skills; rather than give cash to the charity you can help people by buying the clothes they make and supporting things they take pride in"; adding, "I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren't many options out there."

Watson has been described as "an early adopter of sustainable fashion" and is noted for dressing ethically on the red carpet. In January 2020, she partnered with consignment website ThredUP to launch a "Fashion Footprint Calculator", which allows website visitors to calculate the carbon impact of their wardrobes and ways to reduce it.

In June 2020, Watson was appointed the youngest member of the board of directors of Kering, the owner of various fashion brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Watson will chair Kering's sustainability committee. Watson stated she "hope[d] to influence decisions that will impact future generations and the world that we leave them" and was "extremely excited" to collaborate with the Kering Foundation as part of their women's rights work and looked forward to making a difference "behind the scenes".

Click here to read the flipbook.