Emma Watson is an English actress, model, and activist. She has gained recognition for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as her women’s rights work. Watson has been ranked among the world’s highest-paid actresses by Forbes and Vanity Fair, and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2015.
Born in Paris and raised in Oxfordshire, Watson attended the Dragon School and trained in acting at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. As a child, she rose to stardom after landing her first professional acting role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series, having acted only in school plays previously. Watson also starred in the 2007 television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes and lent her voice to The Tale of Despereaux (2008). After the final Harry Potter film, she took on a supporting role in My Week with Marilyn (2011), before starring in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) opposite Logan Lerman and The Bling Ring (2013) alongside an ensemble cast, both to critical acclaim.
In 2014, Watson played the titular character’s adopted daughter in the biblical epic Noah and was honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, winning British Artist of the Year. She starred as Belle in the musical romantic fantasy Beauty and the Beast (2017), which ranks among the highest-grossing films of all time, and Meg March in the coming-of-age drama Little Women (2019), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Other notable film roles include This Is the End (2013), Regression, Colonia (both 2015), and The Circle (2017).
From 2011 to 2014, Watson split her time between working on films and continuing her education, graduating from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature in May 2014. In the same year, she was appointed a UN Women Goodwill ambassador and helped launch the UN Women campaign HeForShe, which advocates for gender equality. Watson was appointed to a G7 advisory body for women’s rights in 2019, consulting with leaders on foreign policy. Her modelling work has included campaigns for Burberry and Lancôme. She also lent her name to a line of clothing for sustainable brand People Tree. In 2020, she joined the board of directors of Kering, a luxury brand group, in her capacity as an advocate for sustainable fashion.
At the peak of her Harry Potter career, Watson earned $15–$20 million per year in acting salary alone. Her performances in the films, acting alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, earned Watson plenty of recognition and awards.
By the summer of 2007, Watson’s work in the famous series was estimated to have earned her more than $13 million, at which point she acknowledged that she was set financially and would not have to work to make a living again.
She was ranked sixth on Forbes‘s list of “Most Valuable Young Stars” in 2009, and the following year, she was recognized as Hollywood’s highest-paid female star, having raked in a total of $24.8 million in 2009.
