Emma Watson: 5 Times Emma Watson proved she is more than Hermione Granger

For a whole generation of fans, Emma Watson will always be the clever witch with a time-turner and a fierce punch aimed at Draco Malfoy’s nose.

“It’s Leviosa, not Leviosaaa,” echoes in every Potterhead’s brain like a spell cast for eternity. But while Hermione Granger made her a global icon, Emma Watson has spent the years since waving a very different wand, one which challenges stereotypes, breaks industry boundaries, and redefines what it means to be a modern icon. Whether she's bringing fairy-tale feminism to the screen as Belle in Beauty and the Beast or leading UN campaigns that put gender equality front and center, Emma Watson is certainly a worthy actor with immense range, but most importantly, a role model for many young people.

While many child stars fizzle or falter, Watson flipped the script. Instead of running from the bejeweled shadow Hermione cast on her, she evolved beyond her. In the years since Harry Potter wrapped, Emma Watson has proven she’s not just “the brightest witch of her age” but a force to be reckoned with in fashion, activism, literature, and cinema. From trading spells for revolution in The Bling Ring to standing firm at the UN podium, here are five times Emma Watson reminded the world that she’s more than just the girl who started from such humble beginnings, now an inspiring woman, rewriting her own story.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Emma Watson had become synonymous with the bushy-haired, bookish witch of Gryffindor, so when she starred in The Perks of Being a Wallflower in 2012, fans held their breath to see if she could break free from the spell a decade-long hit franchise had cast on her future career. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote the original novel, the story's narrative allowed Watson to slip into a character that couldn’t have been more different from Hermione. Playing Sam, a spirited high school senior, and a manic-pixie dreamgirl with a troubled past and an electric presence, Watson brought a performance that was raw, vulnerable, and deeply moving. The movie is a masterpiece, centering on Charlie (Logan Lerman), a socially anxious freshman trying to find his footing. When he meets Sam and her stepbrother Patrick, played with a flamboyant brilliance by Ezra Miller, Charlie is pulled into their offbeat orbit and a world of Rocky Horror nights, vinyl records, and hard-earned wisdom.

Emma Watson’s Sam is effortlessly magnetic. She dances on tables, drives through tunnels with her arms wide open, and looks at the world with skeptical love. However, beneath the charisma is a girl burdened by past trauma, and aching for change. In one intimate moment, she confesses to Charlie, "I don't want to be someone’s crush. I want people to like the real me." Watson handles Sam’s contradictions with remarkable restraint. She’s luminous in moments of joy. Take, for instance, the scene where she gives Charlie his first kiss, reasoning, "Because you should know what it feels like to be kissed by someone who loves you," or her restrained silence in her darker moments. Her American accent, which had critics on high alert, lands convincingly, further proving that Watson truly has an incredible range as an actor. Showing the world an entirely new side of her.

Little Women (2019)

Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women hit theaters in 2019, and it was nothing short of a cinematic statement. Despite being the seventh adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel, Gerwig's version managed to feel timeless and urgent all at once, bringing to life a beautiful paradox. In the collection of electric performances, from Saoirse Ronan’s fiery Jo to Florence Pugh’s defiant yet demure Amy, Emma Watson’s portrayal of Meg March could have easily been sidelined. However, in Meg’s quiet choices and grounded worldview, Watson found something profound. Often described as the “boring” March sister, Meg is known to be traditional, domestic, and inclined toward marriage and motherhood. However, Emma Watson, under Gerwig’s artistic direction, reframed Meg not as a relic of patriarchal expectation, but as a woman who actively chooses a life that fulfills her, not society’s ideals.

In one particularly resonant scene, Meg tries to comfort Jo, who can’t comprehend why her sister would give up dreams of grandeur for a modest life with John Brooke (James Norton). Meg’s response is gentle, but firm, towards Jo, she says,

“Just because my dreams are different than yours, doesn’t mean they’re unimportant. I want a home and a family, and I'm willing to work and struggle, but I want to do it with John.”

Emma Watson delivers the line with a grace that stings. It’s a moment that elevates Meg from background sister to a woman of principle, one who chooses love, not out of submission, but out of authenticity. Watson's chemistry with Norton simmers with sincerity rather than showiness, with their courtship being sweet and rooted in mutual respect and small, tender gestures. Watson captures the nuances of Meg’s emotional journey, her longing for finery, her frustration at domestic limitations, and ultimately, her contentment with the path she’s chosen. Meg March may not be the sister who sets the world on fire. But in Watson’s hands, she becomes a woman who knows the value of warmth, loyalty, and quiet resilience.

Beauty And The Beast (2017)

In 2017, the much-awaited live-action remake of Disney's popular animated movie, Beauty and the Beast, was set to come out. Relying heavily on the nostalgia factor, the movie attempted to reimagine its characters for a new audience. Casting Emma Watson as Belle was a stroke of brilliance, as Belle, like Hermione, is a vivacious reader and fiercely independent. But Watson’s Belle went further, being an unapologetic feminist icon. Before the cameras even rolled, Watson made headlines for reshaping the character, as she refused to wear a corset, working with costume designers to make Belle’s wardrobe more functional. She went further with her nuances of character motivations and reimagined Belle as an inventor, giving her a trade, a passion, and purpose beyond the village. Emma Watson remarked on Entertainment Weekly, saying,

"I wanted to make sure that we weren’t portraying Belle as passive in any way. She’s not waiting for her life to start."

The film, directed by Bill Condon, enhanced the original’s magic with CGI grandeur and Broadway-scale musical numbers. Yet amid the spectacle, Watson’s grounded performance kept Belle real. When she sings “Belle (Reprise)” on a hilltop, declaring, “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere,” it doesn’t feel like a Disney fantasy, but the story of a real, living, breathing woman. Her scenes with Dan Stevens' Beast, and their relationship, initially starting as adversarial and then gradually tender, also felt more fleshed out in this version. Belle challenges him intellectually, emotionally, and morally, refusing to be cowed by his anger. She actively aids in his transformation, not by trying to change him, but by encouraging his better self. Even though her performance is whimsical, it carries deeper emotional weight. Emma Watson lends it a kind of awe and vulnerability that speaks to the complicated nature of seeing someone, and their true self, for the first time. And by the end of the story, she’s not just a princess. She’s an architect of her own destiny.

The Bling Ring (2013)

Emma Watson in The Bling Ring (2017) | Image via: FilmNation Entertainment

When Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring featured at Cannes in 2013, audiences were left startled, not just by the real-life story of celebrity-obsessed teens robbing the rich and famous in the famous Hollywood Hills burglaries, but by the fact that Hermione Granger was a part of the cast. Emma Watson as Nicolette "Nicki" Moore, a character inspired by real-life Bling Ring member Alexis Neiers, was a radical departure from the frizzy-haired, spell-casting genius of Harry Potter. Nicki was vain, shallow, and unapologetically manipulative. She quoted The Secret more religiously than any textbook and delivered lines that would make even a Slytherin squirm, nailing every scene with charming precision. It wasn’t just a performance; it was a transformation.

With heavy Californian vocal fry and a smug sense of entitlement, Watson shredded every trace of her Hogwarts past. Her scenes with Israel Broussard (Marc Hall) and Katie Chang (Rebecca Ahn) are filled with the detached recklessness of youth chasing fame in the most twisted ways. Emma Watson told GQ,

“Nicki is so different from me. She’s vacuous, selfish, and narcissistic. And I realized I had to completely lose myself in her to make it work.”

And she did. The way she danced in Paris Hilton’s stolen clothes, or prayed for forgiveness in court while trying to get a reality show deal, was both satirical and disturbingly real. Emma Watson, with this titular performance, embodied a generation’s obsession with celebrity culture. The Bling Ring was her first big swing at reinvention, and safe to say, she hit it out of the park.

Colonia (2015)

By 2015, Emma Watson wasn’t just experimenting, but diving headfirst into roles that demanded emotional intensity and moral bravery. Colonia, directed by Florian Gallenberger, saw her step into the shoes of Lena, a young German woman who infiltrates a brutal cult to rescue her boyfriend. Gone were the wand battles and clever retorts; this was psychological warfare in one of the most haunting settings imaginable. Set during the Chilean military coup of 1973, Colonia Dignidad wasn’t a fantasy, but a real place, a sinister sect led by the monstrous Paul Schäfer, played with terrifying calm by Michael Nyqvist.

The film doesn’t just explore political horror; instead, it burrows into the terror of a woman who must pretend to conform to survive. Watson’s performance is a masterclass in restraint. As Lena, she’s forced to wear the cult’s conservative garb, smile through forced prayers, and witness unspeakable cruelty, all while plotting an escape. When Daniel Brühl, who plays her boyfriend Daniel, is tortured into silence, Lena becomes the engine of the film’s hope and resistance. Her silent glances, filled with horror, panic, and resolve, do more than any monologue ever could. The escape sequence, when Lena and Daniel run through the heavily guarded compound in a literal storm, is heart-pounding. Emma Watson doesn’t scream or overplay it. She holds it all in, because that’s what Lena would do, proving once and for all that she can play any role and make it unforgettable.