As part of Paper magazine’s Girl Crush series, Emma sat down with American author and feminist, Bell Hooks, to discuss her bright plans for the future.
During the interview, Emma, who is a United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador, revealed she’s stepping back from the Hollywood spotlight for a year to focus on her own “personal developments”.
Emma Watson, 25, pictured with Bell Hooks, 63.
“My own personal task is to read a book a week, and also to read a book a month as part of my book club. I’m doing a huge amount of reading and study just on my own,” she says.
“I almost thought about going and doing a year of gender studies, then I realised that I was learning so much by being on the ground and just speaking with people and doing my reading.”
In May 2014, Emma graduated from Ivy League university Brown with a degree in English Literature, and earlier this year the 25-year-old went on to establish an online book club called Our Shared Self, which currently has over 110,500 members, and is open to readers all over the world.
As part of her self-improvement, Emma also plans to listen to the stories of as many women as possible.
“I want to listen to as many different women in the world as I can. That’s something that I’ve been doing on my own, through the UN, the HeForShe campaign, and my work generally.”
Much like her on-screen character in the magical movie series, the former Harry Potter star often feels as if her brain moves faster than her being.
“It almost feels like the chemistry and structure of my brain is changing so rapidly sometimes. It feels as if sometimes I’m struggling to keep up with myself,” she says.
Blast from the past! Emma pictured with her Harry Potter co-stars back in 2000.
When questioned about her similarities with her famed character, Emma says, “At first I was really trying to say, ‘I’m not like Hermione. I’m into fashion and I’m much cooler than she is,’ and then I came to a place of acceptance.”
“Actually, we do have a lot in common. There are obviously differences, but there are a lot of ways that I’m very similar.”
“I was the girl in school whose hand shot up to answer the questions. I was really eager to learn in an uncool way. In a super uncool way, actually. And then the character of Hermione gave me permission to be who I was.”
