Emma Watson

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and model. Watson rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. She was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays.From 2001 to 2011, she starred in all eight Harry Potter films alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint.Watson's work on the Harry Potter series has earned her several awards and more than £10 million. She made her modelling debut for Burberry's Autumn/Winter campaign in 2009.

In 2007, Watson announced her involvement in two productions: the television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes and an animated film, The Tale of Despereaux. Ballet Shoes was broadcast on 26 December 2007 to an audience of 5.2 million, and The Tale of Despereaux, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo, was released in 2008 and grossed over US $86 million in worldwide sales.In 2012, she was confirmed for the role of Ila in Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic Noah

Early life

Emma Watson was born in Paris, to Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson, both British lawyers. Watson lived in Paris until the age of five. Her parents separated when she was young; following their divorce, she moved with her mother and younger brother to Oxfordshire, spending weekends in her father's house in London. Watson has stated that she speaks some French, though "not as well" as she used to.

From the age of six, Watson had wanted to become an actress, and for a number of years she trained at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts, a part-time theatre school where she studied singing, dancing and acting.By the age of ten, she had performed in various Stagecoach productions and school plays, including Arthur: The Young Years and The Happy Prince, but she had never acted professionally before the Harry Potter series. "I had no idea of the scale of the film series," she stated in a 2007 interview with Parade; "If I had I would have been completely overwhelmed."

Already an accomplished actress at the age of twenty-one, Emma Watson has starred in twelve films. In the past year she has broadened her impressive body of work, showing her versatility as a performer with her first screen roles following the recent completion of the HARRY POTTER series.

In Simon Curtis’s MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, Emma plays wardrobe assistant Lucy, alongside a stellar cast of Oscar nominees Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe and Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier, in addition to Eddie Redmayne, Dame Judi Dench, Dougray Scott, Zoe Wanamaker, Toby Jones and Dominic Cooper. The film opened to critical acclaim and is tipped for attention in awards season.

Emma recently finished playing the American lead role of Sam on Stephen Chbosky’s adaptation of his coming-of-age novel THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. Also directed by Chbosky, this independent drama centres around introverted fifteen year old Charlie (played by Logan Lerman) as he is taken under the older Sam’s wing. The film is due for release later this year.

She is currently filming THE BLING RING in Los Angeles. The film, directed by Sofia Coppola, is inspired by real events and follows a group of teenagers who, obsessed with fashion and fame, burgled the homes of celebrities in Los Angeles.

Emma is best known for playing the iconic character of Hermione Granger in the eight enormously successful HARRY POTTER films. Her performance in the first film of the series, HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE, won her a Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress. Emma also acquired two Critics’ Choice Award nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association for her work in HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN and HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE. The completion of the seventh and eight movies saw Emma receive nominations in 2011 for a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award, and for Best Actress at the Jameson Empire Awards. The HARRY POTTER franchise won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in February 2011.

Emma’s additional credits include the lead role of Pauline Fossil in the BBC adaptation of Noel Streatfield’s classic, BALLET SHOES, which aired on BBC One on Boxing Day to 5.2 million viewers. In her first animated feature, Emma voiced over as the character Princess Pea in THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX which grossed $86.2 million worldwide.

Further to her acting career, Emma is an ambassador for Lancôme, following in the footsteps of Penélope Cruz, Kate Winslet and Julia Roberts as the face of this celebrated brand. Emma has also worked with Fair Trade and organic clothing producer People Tree and collaborated with Alberta Ferretti on the organic Pure Threads collection.

Emma is in her third year of study at Brown University where she is concentrating in English Literature. She is currently on a year abroad studying at Oxford University.