Wizard girl Watson tries to keep it real
"I didn't sign the contract immediately because I had to figure out the logistics of making more 'Harry Potter' films," she says. "I had to think about my university plans. I didn't want to give either one up. It took a bit of time to figure out how to make it all work, and then Warner Bros. gave me Mondays off," Watson says. "I have tutors and the hours now to get my college work done.
"But to be honest, I found all these insinuations of why I was holding off to be very frustrating," says the Oxford native.
Watson admits that Hermione -- the brainy little wizard girl -- is in her soul. "Sometimes I feel like I barely have to act to be her," she admits. "All of us on this film are also a teeny bit older than our characters," she says. "So we get to experience teenage things first in real life and then apply it to the 'Harry Potter' films."
She says "Order of the Phoenix" ups the anxiety for Harry and his friends. "This film is about Harry in a very difficult place," she says. "It's also his journey to realize he doesn't have to do it on his own. He has friends and people who are really behind him. He might lose them, and this makes him a powerful wizard.
"Yes, these next films are darker," she admits. "But we are growing up with our audience and they're older. We always planned on taking them on this journey and it might be a little scary at times."
She says the change in Harry in the last three films will be exciting. "You have to remember that this is a boy who has never met his parents," Watson says. "He's been completely isolated. He's a bit lonely, and no one really understands what it's like to be him."
Watson doesn't fight her public image of a kid who has grown up in the spotlight.
"I've never known any different life," she says. "I was so young when I began acting in these films that this became my life. But the good things is I really built up my confidence."
"I also have a strong family who takes care of me," she says. "Our family lives are what keep all of us sane."
Cindy Pearlman