Emma Watson, best known for her role in the "Harry Potter" series, has been on a five-year acting hiatus since finishing her work on Greta Gerwig's acclaimed adaptation of "Little Women" in December 2018.
With no current film or television projects, many have wondered why the 33-year-old decided to step away from acting.
In a recent interview with Financial Times, the actress admitted she "wasn't very happy" with the profession.
MORE: Emma Watson shares the heartbreaking moment she almost quit Harry Potter
Emma explained her feelings of constraint, saying: "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."
She found it challenging to be the face and spokesperson for projects where she wasn't fully involved in the process and having to answer questions about how a film aligned with her viewpoint.
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Feeling frustrated and held accountable without a voice, Emma said: "I started to realize that 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.'"
Besides her iconic role in the "Harry Potter" films, Watson's acting career has spanned various projects, including Darren Aronofsky's "Noah," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," "The Bling Ring," and "Beauty and the Beast."
Her portrayal of Meg March in Gerwig's "Little Women" earned the film six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
When asked about a potential return to acting, she responded: "Yes, absolutely."
However, she is content to wait for the right opportunity, stating: "I love what I do. 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 any more. Does that make sense?"
Emma recently shared why she had also taken a break from social media in a birthday instagram post.
Emma wrote: "I stepped away from my life."
During her break, she detailed how she learned to surf, rode horses, participated in therapy, and adopted a dog named Sofia.
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She took part in a Harry Potter reunion, bid farewell to her grandparents, established a women's environmental investment fund, and played pickleball with Sugar Ray Leonard. She also directed her first commercial.
Sharing photos from her previous birthday, Emma confessed she wasn't ready to leave her "Covid cocoon" at that time but now feels like a butterfly.
She expressed gratitude to her close friends, whom she refers to as her "witches in my coven," and her brother Alex Watson.
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