The Real Reason Emma Watson Was Ready To Quit Harry Potter

Emma Watson had never acted professionally when she was tasked with bringing Hermione Granger to life in the "Harry Potter" film franchise at age 10. Overnight, the aspiring actor, whose résumé included nothing more than a few school plays, shot to stardom. Author J.K. Rowling talked to Watson on the phone before meeting her in person, and found that the girl's energetic personality was a perfect match for Hermione, Rowling told Daniel Radcliffe in a 2013 televised chat. "I fell absolutely in love with her ... she spoke for, like, 60 seconds at least without drawing breath and I said, 'Emma, you're perfect,'" Rowling said. 

When she met Watson in person, though, she thought she was too good-looking to play the quirky, brilliant witch. "It was quite a big deal for me that I had written, you know, a strong female character who was primarily about brain," she told Radcliffe. But Watson quickly proved she and Hermione had a lot more in common than her looks suggested, as Watson took her studies rather seriously. "Emma, in particular, was quite academic and was very keen in pursuit of schooling," producer David Heyman told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013.

Watson managed to lead a successful acting career and go to college at the same time. In 2014, she earned an English degree in literature from Brown University, as The Telegraph reported. But the journey was no walk in the park and had Watson questioning her decisions early on in her career.

Emma Watson was the only girl among the main cast of the "Harry Potter" films, leaving her to deal with the consequences of fame and being a child star mostly on her own. Watson was "not only younger, but she was by herself," Tom Felton said in the upcoming "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" special (via People), explaining that he could always count on his "cronies" Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint to talk things through. "People definitely forget what she took on and how gracefully she did it," Felton added.

Watson had always wanted to be an actor, but she never considered she would jump into a decade-long project right off the bat. "I think I was scared," Watson told Grint. "I don't know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point where you were like, 'This is kind of forever now.'" The permanent quality of stardom and the importance she placed on education led Watson to nearly quit. "The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way," Watson said.

Watson hesitated before signing the film contracts more often than the others, producer David Heyman told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. "Each time there was a negotiation, it was not about a financial [matter], it really was about, 'Do I want to be a part of this?' We had to be sensitive to her needs and how important school was to her," he said.