Emma Watson reveals she almost left ‘Harry Potter’ franchise early

Actress Emma Watson walks at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on May 25, 2014. Watson almost left the “Harry Potter” franchise because of how fame affected her.

Steven Senne, Associated Press

Emma Watson almost left the “Harry Potter” franchise because of how fame affected her, according to an interview ahead of the “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” special.

• Watson, 31, joined Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint as the main stars of the “Harry Potter” franchise, taking on the iconic roles at a young age.

Per Fox News, director David Yates said on the upcoming “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” special on HBO Max that Watson considered leaving the franchise shortly after Yates agreed to direct “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

In the special, Watson confirmed that she was thinking about leaving, according to People magazine.

• “I think I was scared,” Watson said, per People magazine. “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.’”
• She added: “The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way.”

Per Fox News, Grint also thought about dropping out of the franchise.

• “I had moments like that kind of all the way through,” he admitted. “I also had similar feelings to Emma kind of contemplating what life would be like if I called it a day, but we never really spoke about it. I guess we were just kind of going through it at our own pace. We were kind of in the moment at the time. It just didn’t really occur to us that we were all having similar feelings.”

In 2021, there were rumors that Watson had retired from acting. The U.K. tabloid Daily Mail reported that she had “gone underground” and had wanted to start a family. However, she denied those rumors, saying she’s still planning to act in the future, as I wrote for the Deseret News.