Emma Watson recently discussed her complicated relationship with “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling during a sit-down interview on the “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” podcast.
Watson, who rose to fame playing Hermione Granger in all eight “Harry Potter” movies from 2001 to 2011, has distanced herself from Rowling in recent years due to the author’s views on transgender issues.
In 2020, after Rowling posted a series of tweets and a 3,600-word essay that many criticized as transphobic, Watson shared a brief statement voicing her support for the transgender community. “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are,” she wrote on social media.
In the recent episode of “On Purpose with Jay Shetty,” the host asked Watson about her thoughts on Rowling’s comments that she would “never forgive” the actor for her views, and that Watson and several of her “Harry Potter” co-stars now “ruin” the movies for her.
“I really don’t believe that by having had that experience and holding the love and support and views that I have, mean that I can’t and don’t treasure Jo and the person that I, that I had personal experiences with,” Watson said. “I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experience of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish I to come back to our earlier thing. Like I just don’t think these things are either or. I think it’s my deepest wish that I, I hope people who don’t agree with my opinion will love me and I hope I can keep loving people who I don’t necessarily share the same opinion with.”
Watson added, “I think the thing I’m most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible.”
When Shetty asked if she remained open to having that dialogue, Watson replied, “Yeah, and I always will. I believe in that. I believe in that completely.”
Watson has been on a hiatus from acting for seven years and counting. In an interview with Hollywood Authentic, she admitted that while she misses acting, she is “maybe the happiest and healthiest [she’s] ever been” because of the break.
“The 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,” Watson said. “I think I’ll be honest and straight-forward, 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.”
Watch Watson’s full conversation on the “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” podcast below.
