Emma Watson is among the few individuals who have enjoyed international fame even before reaching adolescence. Despite her uncertainty about the audition, Watson landed the role of Hermione Granger, the intelligent and scholarly friend of the famous boy wizard in the “Harry Potter” series. Watson embodied the character of Hermione throughout her childhood, and at 21, she was finally released from her contract when the eighth and final installment of the “Harry Potter” movie series premiered.

Post-“Harry Potter,” Watson took on several notable roles, though her acting career can’t be labeled as extensive. Following her last appearance as Hermione in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” she starred as Sam in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Nicki in “The Bling Ring,” Ila in “Noah” (a role that impacted her health), Belle in the live-action “Beauty and the Beast,” Mae in “The Circle,” and Meg in the 2019 version of “Little Women,” the latter being her most recent film. Over the past few years, Watson has maintained a minimal presence in Hollywood. Here’s why Emma Watson has become less visible lately.

There was a time not too long ago when everyone had to pause life due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Emma Watson, like many others, was confined to these societal restrictions. In May 2021, she turned to social media to inform her followers that her appearances would be limited for the foreseeable future. “Please assume no news from me just means I’m quietly spending the pandemic like most people — unsuccessfully trying to bake sourdough (!), caring for my loved ones, and doing my best not to spread a virus that is still affecting so many,” she shared on X.

Watson has never been very active on social media, but she utilized her platform to encourage compliance with pandemic guidelines to reduce fatalities. She supported the #IStayAtHome campaign, which prompted people to share why they were abiding by quarantine measures. “My grandma is over 70, so particularly vulnerable,” Watson noted in an Instagram post. “My Mum is a type 1 diabetic and my best friend is a health care professional. #Istayhomefor them.”

The former “Harry Potter” icon also advocated for the U.K.’s National Health Service, which faced immense pressure during the pandemic. Watson reminded people of the tremendous effort required from healthcare workers dealing with an unprecedented number of patients, with trainees facing particular struggles. In a telling post, she shared survey results showing that 43% of trainees felt emotionally drained. Clearly, prioritizing her fame to support significant issues was of greater importance to Watson at that time.

Those familiar with Emma Watson’s endeavors after “Potter” wouldn’t be surprised by her choice to support the NHS during the COVID-19 crisis, as she already had a notable background in activism. She has consistently seized the chance to promote worthy causes and draw attention to significant issues. In a major career highlight, Watson was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in July 2014.

The former “Harry Potter” star was part of the team that introduced and launched the HeForShe campaign. HeForShe is a UN project that asks men and people of all genders to serve as allies to women by helping to pursue fair hiring and payment practices, among other goals. Watson has continued her work in gender equity since then and has specifically focused on promoting girls’ access to education with organizations like the Malala Fund and the Campaign for Female Education (aka CAMFED). She’s also known for her environmental activism: Watson has been applauded for her sustainable fashion choices, and she made headlines when she hid over 40 books about climate change in Glasgow for people to find during COP26.

More recently, Watson has shown her support for Palestine. Many celebrities have chosen to remain quiet about what’s happening in Gaza, but the actress-turned-activist made her feelings clear when she shared an image of a pro-Palestinian protest with the words “solidarity is a verb” over the top on Instagram. This led to accusations of antisemitism, which in turn brought about a letter of support for Watson signed by Viggo Mortensen, Susan Sarandon, and Mark Ruffalo, among others. She may be done with Hollywood, but it’s clear that Watson still has friends there.

As someone who has been in the global spotlight since she was 10 years old, it’s not surprising that Emma Watson needed to take a break from making movies. She grew up under immense pressure and wasn’t able to have a normal childhood. The fact that she’s female meant she had it even harder than Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, her two male co-stars. “At 14 I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press,” she said after being made a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. That’s something that no young actor should ever have to endure, but breaking away from Hollywood was about more than escaping the glare of the tabloids and gossip mags.

While Watson has a lot of fond memories from her time making the “Harry Potter” movies, she’s also recognized that the experience was a gruelling one. “I have such a structure when I’m working on Potter,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2010 (via Hollywood Life). “I get told what time I get picked up, I get told what time I can eat when I have time to go to the bathroom. Every single second of my day is not in my power.” That same feeling of not being in control followed Watson to later projects, further dampening her love for filmmaking. “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,” she told the Financial Times.

After finishing her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature at Brown University in 2014, Emma Watson stepped away from education to focus on career and life pursuits. However, in 2023, she went back to school, enrolling in a Master of Studies program for creative writing at Oxford University. Fans were concerned when it was reported that Watson had dropped out, though the stories were misleading: Watson simply switched courses to pursue a DPhil, which stands for Doctor of Philosophy and is Oxford’s version of a PhD.

According to campus sources, Watson doesn’t make a fuss when she’s attending her classes. “She mingles among other students, and blends into the background. But she does attend social events and is often spotted with her books and her boyfriend at local coffee shops,” an insider told the Daily Mail. The boyfriend in question is Kieran Brown, a fellow PhD student. Photos of the two kissing and getting cozy unofficially confirmed their relationship, though Watson has since been spotted on a picnic with someone else, sparking rumors that she and Brown are no longer an item.

Studies and romance aside, Watson has also been using her time at Oxford to stay fit: She joined the university’s famous rowing club. In May 2025, she took part in Oxford University’s Summer Eights rowing regatta. She was the coxswain of her team, though she could only lead them to victory in one of the four races they competed in. According to reports, one of the teams they lost to played the theme music from “Harry Potter” to celebrate their win while playfully teasing Watson.

Saturn Return is an astrological term for the period of time that young people spend transitioning from their late 20s to their early 30s and is based on the placement of the planet Saturn at your birth. Saturn takes about three decades to return to that same position, and this return is said to trigger in many adults a desire for re-evaluation, reflection, change, and new beginnings. According to an Instagram post from Emma Watson, she “stepped away from life” due to Saturn’s Return and spent around three years finding herself in a variety of ways.

“Before 29 I hadn’t even heard of a Saturn Return as a concept. Let’s just say that now I am well acquainted,” Watson said after turning 33 in 2023. “It took me three years but I have finally figured out a daily practice and can actually keep it for more than a few days in a row.” In those three years, Watson tried a lot of new things, including surfing and golf, and she learned a lot about herself. She even closed out the inspirational post (which received over four millions likes) with an apparent “Harry Potter” nod, writing, “Thank you to the witches in my coven who were so pivotal in helping me arrive at where and who I am now.”

Another reason that you don’t really hear from Emma Watson anymore is that she’s plenty busy with her gin brand, which she started with her brother Alex. They’re close in age and have always had a strong sibling bond, which makes co-running the business a lot easier. Alex is no stranger to showbusiness himself, having worked as an occasional actor and model for several years (he even modeled with his sister in a 2010 Burberry campaign). Before that Alex worked in hospitality, and the skills he learned have helped him co-launch Renais Gin.

The siblings brought out Renais in Britain in May 2023, where it found success as a luxury gin brand. Their spirit won a gold medal from the UK’s Gin Masters, and they expanded to the North American market only a year after the launch. It no doubt helped Emma and Alex that their father has been in the wine business for many years. In fact, the family’s wine and gin empires are linked: The grape skins leftover from the winemaking are recycled for the gin.

“[Renais] has a big sustainability lens, which is important to both of us,” Alex told People in 2024, adding that it was nice to see his sister thriving away from the spotlight. He said: “She’s a very bright, multi-talented person with a lot of other dynamics and things to offer. And when you do one thing for most of your life, I think it’s really important to step out and express yourself in other ways. And I think that’s what Renais is for her.”

The fact that Emma Watson hates the lack of power that you usually have as an actor on a Hollywood production is likely what made her take full control of a Prada campaign that she was offered. The designer fashion giants reached out to Watson about a collaboration promoting Paradoxe, the first major women’s fragrance released by the label through L’Oreal. “When Prada came to me with the proposal of being the face of Paradoxe, I knew I wanted to direct the commercial,” Watson said in “The Making of Prada Paradoxe,” adding, “I don’t think I thought it was a possibility. No one offered me the directing job. I had to give myself permission. I had to ask.”

The commercial consists of intercut images of Watson in various beautiful, artistic shots, with a special focus on Watson as a creative. She is shown dancing, painting, swimming, and working with computers to create film or utilize virtual reality. As designer fragrance ads go, it’s pretty coherent, with Watson explaining what she feels the fragrance represents. “Why should I be framed? Boxes are always too small. I celebrate my imperfections,” she says in the ad, which was posted to YouTube in August 2022 and went on to be watched over 2.5 million times. “I’m never the same, but I’m always myself.” It seems that Watson is telling the world she won’t be defined by anybody’s expectations of her, whether it’s in Hollywood or in life.

Emma Watson made a lot of money from her time in the “Harry Potter” films, with the actress boasting a net worth of around $70 million by the time “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” hit cineplexes. The Brit apparently has a thing for fancy cars. She’s reportedly owned an Audi S3 Sportsback, a Cadillac Escalade ESV, a Lexus RX, a Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet, and a Rolls Royce Ghost over the years (of course, Watson also has an eco-friendly option: She’s been seen driving a Toyota Prius). In 2025, she was actually banned from driving for six months after her Audi was clocked going at 38mph in a 30mph zone in Oxford. She was fined over $1400, which, as her attorney pointed out, she was “in a position to pay.” Talk about putting it lightly.

Watson is also known to be a tennis fan and has been spotted taking in the US Open. While the price of her actual ticket is unknown, some seats go for thousands of dollars, with prices for the 2025 men’s final hitting a whopping $45,000. That’s not to say that Watson has only been splurging on cars and sporting events: She puts her money where her mouth is when it comes to causes she cares about. In 2024, she became a major investor in a start-up called Hertility after being introduced to co-founder Dr. Helen O’Neil through a friend. “Hertility was founded by women and focuses on women’s health — an area that historically hasn’t received enough attention or funding,” O’Neill told TechCrunch. “By investing in a female-founded company that aims to revolutionize women’s healthcare, Watson contributes to empowering women in both business and health.”

Is Emma Watson on the verge of a Hollywood comeback? That’s the question observers were asking after the Brit made a rare and surprise appearance at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It was described as “a subtle return to the spotlight” by E! News, who noted that it had been 12 years since Watson attended the festival in support of “The Bling Ring,” which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section.

Watson has admitted to turning down numerous roles since she stepped back from the spotlight. When Vogue asked her why she did so, Watson responded with: “Because I’m in a career that moves very quickly, the decision to take time to do these things felt like a very big decision. [Choosing] to go back and write and study and get behind the camera was terrifying for me because I’d never done it before.” Now that she’s scratched those itches, could she return to the big screen?

Despite not having appeared in a film since 2019, Watson still gets linked to projects. As recently as June 2025, London’s Evening Standard revealed that the former “Harry Potter” star was a favorite to play the next Bond girl among U.K. bookmakers. Given the image of Bond girls in popular culture, it seems unlikely that this would be her grand return — unless, of course, she was allowed to put a modern spin on it. If Watson does relaunch her movie star career, one thing’s for sure — it will be on her own terms.