The Tragic Reality Emma Watson Had To Deal With After Leaving Harry Potter Behind

Despite all the controversy that has marred the franchise in the years since its completion, the original "Harry Potter" film series remains singularly impressive. Eight films were released over the course of 10 years, each featuring cutting-edge visual effects, each making huge money, and — most importantly — each featuring the same central cast. Fans practically watched series leads Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson grow up together in real time. It was, according to Grint in an interview with Esquire, a "unique experience" likely to bond them forever. However, it also created unrealistic expectations for Watson, specifically, and she eventually had to face the tragic reality that her "Harry Potter" experience was not representative of Hollywood at large.

As the actor herself explained during a September 2025 appearance on Jay Shetty's "On Purpose" podcast, acting life was never quite the same for Watson after "Harry Potter" — largely because, unlike with those films, not very many people she worked with seemed particularly interested in making friends. "We were a community [on "Harry Potter"], we really were. And so I took that as an expectation into my other workplaces, and I just got my a** kicked. I really did," Watson said, calling this reality check "bone-breakingly painful." That being said, she wasn't completely averse to feeling that pain. "It broke me, but in a way, I'm proud that it did," the actor declared, adding, "I guess that means I have something left to break. I have a heart left to break."

Though the unique bond she and her "Harry Potter" co-stars share is something that clearly meant and continues to mean a lot to Emma Watson, it's also not exactly a secret that she has a bit of a complicated relationship with the franchise that turned her into a household name. After all, Watson may have had a stunning transformation, but the sheer amount of attention that was placed on it did take a mental toll — so much so that Watson actually considered backing out of "Harry Potter" at the film series' halfway point.

"I think I was scared," Watson said in HBO Max's 2022 "Harry Potter" 20th anniversary reunion special (via Variety), telling co-star Rupert Grint, "I don't know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point when you were like, 'This is kind of forever now.'" Ultimately, the bond between the "Potter" stars prevailed, and Watson saw the series through to the end. Years after the fact, though, Watson, Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe's relationship with the franchise became even more complicated.

To varying degrees, all three actors have fallen out with "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling as a result of their opposition to her increasingly controversial opinions on transgender issues. Still, during her aforementioned appearance on "On Purpose," Watson struck a diplomatic tone, explaining that while she strongly disagrees with Rowling, she hasn't written the author off entirely. "I think the thing I'm most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible," she said. Rowling's apparent response came in the form of a dismissive subtweet followed by a more direct rebuff. "Emma has so little experience of real life," it read. "She's ignorant of how ignorant she is."