Emma Watson: I do not miss selling movies

Emma Watson: I do not miss selling movies

Emma Watson doesn't miss "selling" her films.

The 35-year-old star - who is best known for playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film franchise - has stepped back from the movie business in recent times in order to pursue a doctorate at the University of Oxford, and Emma has revealed that she doesn't miss some aspects of the industry.

She told Hollywood Authentic: "In some ways, I really won the lottery [with acting], and what happened to me is so unusual. But a bigger component than the actual job itself is the promotion and selling of that piece of work, this piece of art. The balance of that can get quite thrown off."

Emma misses performing on camera, but she disliked other aspects of the film business.

She said: "I think I'll be honest and straightforward, and say: I do not miss selling things.

"I found that to be quite soul-destroying. But I do very much miss using my skill set, and I very much miss the art. I just found I got to do so little of the bit that I actually enjoyed."

Emma starred in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at the age of 11, and she's always enjoyed the challenge of performing on camera.

She shared: "The moment you get on a film set, you don't get very long for rehearsal.

"But the moment you get to talk through a scene - or I got to prepare and think about how I wanted to do something - and then the minute the camera rolls, and getting to just completely forget about everything else in the world other than that one moment - it's such an intense form of meditation. Because you just cannot be anywhere else."

However, Emma has never enjoyed the "pressure" that she's faced throughout her career.

She said: "I don't miss the pressure. I forgot it was a lot of pressure."

Emma also found that fame and success took a toll on her personal life.

The movie star has therefore made a concerted effort to build some "good foundations" in her life.

She explained: "I needed to go and do some construction work. Some good foundations for anything else to grow from."

Emma previously confessed to feeling "a bit caged" in the movie business.

The actress told the Financial Times: "I wasn't very happy, if I'm being honest. I think I felt a bit caged.

"The thing I found really hard was that I had to go out and sell something that I really didn't have very much control over. To stand in front of a film and have every journalist be able to say, 'How does this align with your viewpoint?' It was very difficult to have to be the face and the spokesperson for things where I didn't get to be involved in the process."