Emma Watson (12 page)

Hermione’s newfound role as a rule-breaking teen rebel creates shock among her friends. ‘Who are you?’ asks Ron. ‘And what have you done with Hermione Granger?’

‘Before, Hermione would rather die than be expelled,’ Emma told the
Sydney Morning Herald
. ‘It’s nice to see she’s come to a state in life where she’s prepared to question authority.’

Perhaps the fact that Emma had a little family support
in the film helped her channel Hermione’s newfound feistiness and strength. In one scene, Ron is seen chomping on some sausages. Sitting next to him is Emma’s brother Alex Watson, who’d secured a bit part in the film. Alex – who years earlier would listen to Dad Chris read the Potter stories along with his sister – got the part after an invitation to visit the set from Emma. ‘They [the books] captured my imagination,’ Alex said. ‘I got so excited that Emma said, “Come on set and see me at work.”’ As a result, the producers offered him the
blink-and-you’ll-miss-it
role.

In the film, Hermione figures out a way to get rid of Dolores Umbridge, tricking her into the woods, where she is dragged away by an angry mob of centaurs. Hermione, like Emma Watson herself, proved that she can ‘step up’ with the best of them. ‘I’ve been denying that I’m anything like her,’ she told
Elle
. ‘But I’ve come to terms with the fact that we’re really quite similar. As the film goes on, the comparison is a big compliment. She stands for girl power, she won’t let anyone mess her around; she’s got two guys for best friends, but still holds her own. I love that she’s intelligent and proud of that fact. She’s determined, she never gives up, she’s loyal, she stands up for her friends. I think she’s kick-ass.’

Order of the Phoenix
is topped and tailed by two great sequences – the broomstick flight down the Thames and a wand-off between Voldemort and Dumbledore – but Imelda Staunton walks off with the entire film with her demonically tittering, chintzy villainess Dolores Umbridge. Reviewers seemed to accept that
Order of the Phoenix
had
a job to do in setting up the final instalments of the franchise and that at times the film – and the performances of its young stars – suffered as a result. ‘The acting skills of Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have improved,’ said
The Times
, ‘but not enough to truly flesh out the characters and provide the narrative depth that this transitional, plot-advancing film needs. They have got “angry” and “determined” down pat at this point, but struggle somewhat on the more nuanced grimaces.’

‘The film has the look and feel of a contemporary horror thriller,’ said
Entertainment Weekly
, ‘particularly in scenes in which Harry has nightmares involving Voldemort. Also chilling is a sequence in which he and his friends battle the masked Death Eaters. These scenes, typified by sharp, fast cuts and terrifying visuals, suit the dark material. The special effects continue to be masterful, but villains are given a new twist, and
Order of the Phoenix
is all the more fun because of it.’

‘Hermione and Ron are ever-present, but their significance in the story seems to shrink as Harry grows,’ said the
Daily Telegraph
. ‘But to dwell on a few weaknesses would be to neglect the obvious point – that Harry Potter is older, bigger and darker than ever. And no one would want to miss his journey. Yet the film is dark enough to engage adults, familiar enough to reassure us and fast-paced, as 766 pages are packed into two hours and 18 minutes.’

The
Guardian
also noted the slightly diminished role that Hermione played in the film, but still found space to refer to Emma as the ‘thinking wizard’s crumpet’.

But the reviews seemed to have little effect on the franchise’s performance at the box office and the fifth film brought the Potter franchise to an astonishing tally: industry experts believe that the films had now earned $4.5 billion worldwide.

J. K. Rowling’s final book,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
, was due out later that month. Emma said she queued up and bought a copy just like every other Potter fan. And, just like every other fan, she found out the fate of the three main characters in the Potter series – and particularly that of the character that had made her internationally famous. The teenage actress was where she was thanks to Hermione Granger – but the end was now in sight. ‘It’s quite hard to imagine my life without Harry Potter,’ she told the
Sydney Morning Herald
. ‘It’s sort of hard to remember my life before. It’s sort of completely taken over my life. I say that, but I’ve worked hard to make sure that hasn’t happened. While obviously it’s a huge part of me, it doesn’t define me. I know who I am aside from this. But it feels strange that one day it will be over. In a way, though, I feel it will never be over … the books will always be loved and the films will come on every Christmas and it’ll keep living on in kids’ imaginations and adults’ imagination for many years to come.’

And that, in a sense, was the problem. The end of the decade would signal the end of the Potter franchise. With typical Watson practicality, she had started to formulate her exit strategy. ‘My biggest fear is getting stereotyped,’ she told journalists at an
Order of the Phoenix
press
conference. ‘I want to do other things. One of the amazing things that have come out of this is that I have so many options. There’s so many scripts and they are fantastic. I think I would like to do something different, maybe something smaller.’

Which is exactly what she did.

E
mma was by now totally associated in the public mind with the part of Hermione Granger; far from getting annoyed about the situation, she completely understood it. ‘Sometimes even I get muddled which one I am, because I know Hermione so very well,’ she told journalist Lucy Cavendish, acknowledging the problem. ‘My little brother Toby, who’s three, gets very cross with me sometimes because when he sees me in Harry Potter he can’t understand how I can be Emma and Hermione at the same time.’

The benchmark for how to shake off your Potteresque child-star image was set by Daniel Radcliffe at London’s Gielgud Theatre in February 2007 in the play
Equus
. And Radcliffe set it
very
high. In the play, Radcliffe played teenager Alan Strang, put under the care of a psychiatrist (Harry’s Uncle Vernon Dursley himself, Richard Griffiths)
after he blinds six horses in a seemingly motiveless attack. The youth is a mass of sexual self-loathing, fascinated by horses to the point of an almost religious obsession. It’s the job of the psychiatrist, Martin Dysart, to find out why the boy acted the way he did. The play was originally staged in 1973 and starred another child actor ready to make his way in adult roles, Peter Firth, who went on to star in the film of the play alongside Richard Burton as Dysart. He was well known at the time for the kids’ TV show
Here Come the Double Deckers
– he’s widely recognised now for the role of Harry in the TV show
Spooks
.

What grabbed the attention of the press and the public about Radcliffe’s revival of the play is the section where his character is naked on stage. Radcliffe had psyched himself up for the role during filming for
Order of the Phoenix
, where he had to get over the embarrassment of his first onscreen kiss. ‘I think the reason that it wasn’t a problem or a worry in the slightest was that in the back of my mind I was thinking, I’ll be naked on stage in six months, I’ve got to get over this,’ he told Hollywood.com. ‘Because if that’s a worry then the whole nude-blinding-horses would be an even greater worry.’

A naked Harry Potter? Well, the tabloid headline writers had a field day, with variations on the theme of ‘Harry’s Wand’ and ‘Harry Botter’. Despite the sniggering, the show was such a critical success that it transferred to Broadway the following year; Radcliffe’s gamble had well and truly paid off. Could Emma ever see herself being so bold?

‘If I feel that nudity is essential to the story, I’ll do it,’ she told the
Sydney Morning Herald
. ‘But I’m not going
to be getting my kit off for something that I don’t really believe in.’

Emma went to see the play to show support for Radcliffe, admitting that she, too, got ‘a bit giggly and a bit embarrassed’ about seeing her friend give his all for the play: ‘I just sort of went, “You’re mad, absolutely mad!” But when I went to see it I was blown away.’

J. K. Rowling also went to see the play. She told Radcliffe the play had given her a great idea. ‘“I’m going to write you naked in the seventh film now,”’ Radcliffe recalled her saying. ‘I said, “That’s a joke!” And she did!’

Every journalist wanted to know if Emma was going to make such a bold move with her first non-Potter role. ‘I won’t be appearing naked on stage with a horse! But I am waiting for the right opportunity for me,’ she said. ‘Auditions are really hard and being rejected is always a bad experience. But I’ll keep trying.’

At one second past midnight on 21 July 2007 – little more than ten years after
Philosopher’s Stone
was published – the final book of the Harry Potter series went on sale. J. K. Rowling did a reading for 1,700 fans at London’s Natural History Museum – and then signed 1,700 copies of
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
for the audience. It took her nearly seven hours. The beginning of the end had begun. Those who had grown up with the stories now knew how the saga would end – and that included Emma Watson.

At the end of July, it was announced that Granada Productions were planning to make an adaptation of Noel
Streatfeild’s 1936 novel
Ballet Shoes
to be broadcast on the BBC. It had previously been made into a six-part series in the 1970s, again on the BBC. Telling the story of three unwanted babies – dubbed the Fossil sisters – growing up in a bohemian but impoverished house in 1930s London, the book had been a favourite of slightly posh girls – just like Emma Watson – ever since. ‘
Ballet Shoes
has been loved by generations of readers, and is cherished throughout the world,’ BBC Drama executive producer Patrick Spence said. ‘The Fossil sisters don’t just touch hearts, they steal them.’

It was announced that comedy writer Victoria Wood, Marc Warren from TV show
Hustle
and that man Richard Griffiths were to appear in the film, and that producers would be holding open auditions to cast the parts of the three Fossil sisters. Casting the part of Pauline Fossil – the young, beautiful drama queen of the trio – proved toughest of all. ‘We saw every blonde actress in London, and not one of them was right,’ said
Ballet Shoes
screenwriter Heidi Thomas, who’d just finished the BBC’s
Cranford
series. ‘It was like a nightmare. There were women in their twenties turning up in ankle socks.’

You have to feel sorry for the other young hopefuls who turned up to try out for the parts of Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil. Experienced young television actress Yasmin Paige got the part of the tomboyish Petrova; Lucy Boynton was Posy, the would-be ballerina. Boynton had made her feature-film debut the previous year in a Potter film of her own, playing the young Beatrix Potter in the Renée Zellweger movie
Miss Potter.
That left one sister to cast:
Pauline, the fame-hungry Fossil who’s obsessed with auditions and becoming an actress. ‘I was all set to go back to school after finishing Harry Potter but couldn’t resist
Ballet Shoes
,’ Emma told the
Daily Mail
when it was revealed that she had won the part. ‘I really loved it; it felt so funny and real. It was also beautifully written. So much of what Pauline is experiencing is similar to what I went through when I auditioned for Harry Potter. She becomes famous sort of overnight and I could relate to that.’

As well as the parallels with her own life, the story was a Watson family favourite. ‘
Ballet Shoes
is such a treasured and loved novel by so many generations,’ Emma told
Screen-vision
, the cinema advertising company. ‘It was actually my grandma’s favourite book when she was growing up. She said to me, “You really have to do this project.”’

There was one other reason Emma took the part:
Ballet Shoes
was one of Joanne Rowling’s favourite books. ‘Jo said, “You have to take the part, just for my sake,”’ said Watson.

Screenwriter Heidi Thomas declared herself delighted with the performers who had been assembled: ‘This is a captivating cast, worthy in every way of Streatfeild’s gorgeous book. Emma Watson is a magical young actress. We are thrilled to have her on board.’

There was one other piece of Watson casting for
Ballet Shoes
: the young Pauline Fossil was played by two very young actresses, twins Nina and Lucy Watson, Emma’s half-sisters. Casting was completed by July with Emilia Fox joining the line-up as the sisters’ guardian Sylvia Brown and Dame Eileen Atkins as the imperious ballet
tutor Madame Fidolia. Filming began in August. This was to be a tight turnaround as the feature-length TV film had been scheduled for Christmas 2007, barely four months away.

Emma essentially made
Ballet Shoes
in her school summer holidays. ‘It was shot over four weeks – Potter movies go on for months,’ she told the
Daily Telegraph.
‘I’m not classed as a child actor any more, so I don’t work restricted hours. I was amazed at how hard it all was. I enjoyed it, though.’

The 400-year-old Ham House in
Richmond-upon-Thames
was a key location for the filming of
Ballet Shoes
– it was also used for the Spice Girls movie
Spice World
; girl-power fan Emma must have been delighted to share a setting with her former heroines.

The atmosphere on set was a very different experience for Emma:
Harry Potter
was all about the boys, but
Ballet Shoes
was an altogether more feminine affair. ‘It was nice to be with lots of girls,’ she said. ‘It was a really nice change because usually on Potter I’m with guys all the time and I was with Lucy [Boynton] and Yasmin [Paige] and Emilia [Fox] and Victoria [Wood] every day. That was really nice – it was lovely. Obviously, we did it for the BBC. It was done in a TV format, so it was completely different to being on a massive big Hollywood blockbuster. We shot four scenes in one day and we were working six-day weeks. It was different.’

‘Emma was perfect for Pauline,’ said director Sandra Goldbacher. ‘She has a piercing, delicate aura that makes you want to gaze and gaze at her. Our three young actors
brought such passion, spontaneity and realism to their characters. They were not afraid to let them have tantrums or narcissistic outbursts. I think they’ll feel very believable to an audience today, and not like rarefied creatures with posh accents and perfect complexions. They are three young teenagers who squabble in their bedroom, but who happen to have extraordinary talents and dreams.’

Screenwriter Heidi Thomas also proclaimed herself a Watson fan. ‘Emma’s performance in
Ballet Shoes
is a revelation,’ she told the BBC. ‘She is maturing rapidly as a young woman and as an actress – her work is sensitive, subtle and intelligent. She is also incredibly hardworking. Our schedule was murderous, and she never once complained, even when she was white with exhaustion.’

Emma recalled, ‘I loved making
Ballet Shoes
. It was so refreshing to work on a production outside of Harry Potter and a great learning experience. The days were long and everything seems to race along with such pace, but it was a very intimate production and I enjoyed every minute.’

Emilia Fox – whose parents were both actors – said she was impressed by Emma’s application, especially in the face of such a stellar cast. ‘Not having acting training added to her humility. She seemed very observant of the actors on set and showed a total commitment to playing Pauline’s flaws as well as her charm,’ she told
Vogue
. ‘Unsurprisingly, she was thoroughly prepared and professional. But she was also immediately warm.’

But there was a degree of criticism levelled at Emma for appearing in
Ballet Shoes
. Some critics felt that accepting the part was an easy way out compared with the bold
risk-taking
 
that Daniel Radcliffe had demonstrated. But she still claimed she’d been so nervous on the first day of filming that she ‘couldn’t speak’.

The parallels between Emma and her character were uncanny. ‘Pauline is headstrong,’ Emma said. ‘So in that way she’s quite like Hermione, but she’s not academic. In fact, she actually reminds me of myself as a child, much more than Hermione does. Pauline is utterly obsessed with being an actress and I was just like that when I was younger.’

Pauline ‘does nothing but look in mirrors and recite’, according to her nanny, played by Victoria Wood. She is obsessed about her forthcoming audition for an acting part and even has major concerns about signing a long-term film contract. ‘I can relate to Pauline’s ambition,’ Emma told journalist Mark Warman. ‘She’d sell her soul to be an actress. And I did always want to be an actress and I think I do still; but there’s nothing reassuring about acting.’

Pauline’s concerns about seeing herself onscreen for the first time particularly resonated with Emma. ‘Tomorrow night, my face is going to be blown up as big as a house,’ Pauline wails, ‘and everyone will find me out!’

The line directly mirrored Emma’s own feelings about stepping outside the Potter world for the first time. ‘I actually really want to be an actress, a proper actress who makes it her career,’ she told journalist Lucy Cavendish. ‘I’m always expecting to be found out and I thought, If I’m no good, now is the time to find out.’

It made sense that
Ballet Shoes
was broadcast on Boxing Day – it’s perfect holiday viewing while you’re munching on turkey leftovers and that last remaining box
of chocolates. Who wouldn’t want to grow up with the feisty Fossil girls in the rambling London house they share with their guardian, nanny and lodgers: a sexy
chain-smoking
actress, a mysterious mechanic and a pair of retired academics? The film blasts you with period glamour and feel-good moments until you surrender to its charms. Although she is not high up the cast list in the opening credits, it’s Emma’s film. One stand-out scene has her exploding into tears as she caves in under the pressure of her character’s selfishness. Crying, it appeared, was one of Emma’s greatest acting skills. ‘It’s funny – I find it easier to cry than I do to laugh convincingly,’ she told the
Chicago Tribune
. ‘It’s incredibly hard to pull off a laugh that feels natural take after take after take, that feels real. You can tell a fake laugh [snaps fingers] the minute you hear it, and that’s something I really struggle with more than producing tears.’

Whether slamming doors in full-blown actressy hissy fits or sharing a bath with her fellow Fossil Petrova, the camera and the narrative linger on Watson. Emma told Alloy.com, ‘One of the great things is that, in playing Pauline, I got to dress up and be much more girly. She’s an actress, I got to dress up as Alice in Wonderland and there’s a part in
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
. Then she’s in this film that’s a period piece, so I got to wear a corset and an old dress and a wig. I got to have so much fun with all the 30s makeup. It was really good fun to do something that was out of school uniform and out of jeans and a T-shirt and something completely different. It was lovely.’

And the critics agreed. The
Observer
described the
production as ‘Classic girl power’. It said, ‘Boxing Day’s new and visually sumptuous version was a highly enjoyable reprise of the tale of the Fossil foundlings, Pauline, Petrova and Posy, and their quest for fame and fortune, whose central message – “The world isn’t kind to girls who can’t support themselves” – is no less true now than it was in 1936, when the book was first published.’