'I wasn't very happy if I'm being honest'

The actor shot to international stardom when she appeared as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001.

Along with all eight of the Potter films, the 35-year-old has also had starring roles in 2012 coming-of-age film The Perks of Being A Wallflower, and played Disney princess Belle in the live-action remake of Beauty and Beast.

But since starring as Meg March in the Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women, Watson hasn't appeared in any feature length films.

Speaking to the Financial Times in 2023, the actor shed some light on why she decided to step away from the world of film.

She told the publication: "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.”

Watson explained that she didn't feel like she had "a voice" when she was interviewed about films she was in.

“I only wanted to stand in front of things where if someone was going to give me flak about it, I could say, in a way that didn’t make me hate myself, ‘Yes, I screwed up, it was my decision, I should have done better'", she said.

Currently, Watson is focusing a lot of her time into the wine-inspired gin company, Renais, she has launched with her brother Alex.

She's also pursuing her love of directing, and last year she directed, wrote, narrated and starred in a short film for Prada.

Watson also teased that she is directing a music video for an artist people will "definitely have heard of."

Whilst she said she will "absolutely" return to acting, Watson said she's "happy to sit and wait for the next right thing."

She added: “It’s finding a way to do it where I don’t have to fracture myself into different faces and people. And I just don’t want to switch into robot mode anymore. Does that make sense?”