Emma Watson may be one of Hollywood's best dressed starlets, but she won't take all the credit for her style. In fact, the beautiful British star would like to thank Hermione Granger, the fictional Harry Potter character she's been playing for the past 11 years, for her style sense and for forcing her to rebel through fashion.
Emma chatted with WWD about what it feels like to finally be able to be herself, after years of having her entire life dictated to her. So, while millions of fans are queuing up to bid goodbye to Harry Potter, Emma is actually saying hello to a new chapter in her life. She says:
I have Hermione to thank, in a weird way, for my sense of style. Playing this role, fashion was my way of expressing myself away from that school uniform. When I got the chance to dress myself, I was so thrilled to be able to be Emma and show a different side of myself. Maybe I would never have been this interested in fashion if I hadn’t played that role for so long and sometimes felt so constrained by being identified with her so much.
Being Hermione had its own set of rules for Emma to follow, to maintain character continuity over the years, and the first thing Emma did when filming was wrapped was to chop off her hair in an effort to distance herself from the character. She says:
I just wasn’t allowed to do anything: wasn’t allowed to cut my hair, put on nail varnish, tan, wear a bra that made my boobs in any way look [larger], have any flesh showing, wear any makeup when I was playing Hermione. I always had to back-comb my hair — ‘She looks too pretty, take down the blush or the mascara, take it off.’ Fashion was my rebellion.
We're looking forward to seeing Emma play Hermione in the final two Harry Potter flicks, but we're also excited to see what direction she heads in both acting and fashion.
Emma chatted with WWD about what it feels like to finally be able to be herself, after years of having her entire life dictated to her. So, while millions of fans are queuing up to bid goodbye to Harry Potter, Emma is actually saying hello to a new chapter in her life. She says:
I have Hermione to thank, in a weird way, for my sense of style. Playing this role, fashion was my way of expressing myself away from that school uniform. When I got the chance to dress myself, I was so thrilled to be able to be Emma and show a different side of myself. Maybe I would never have been this interested in fashion if I hadn’t played that role for so long and sometimes felt so constrained by being identified with her so much.
Being Hermione had its own set of rules for Emma to follow, to maintain character continuity over the years, and the first thing Emma did when filming was wrapped was to chop off her hair in an effort to distance herself from the character. She says:
I just wasn’t allowed to do anything: wasn’t allowed to cut my hair, put on nail varnish, tan, wear a bra that made my boobs in any way look [larger], have any flesh showing, wear any makeup when I was playing Hermione. I always had to back-comb my hair — ‘She looks too pretty, take down the blush or the mascara, take it off.’ Fashion was my rebellion.
We're looking forward to seeing Emma play Hermione in the final two Harry Potter flicks, but we're also excited to see what direction she heads in both acting and fashion.
