Emma Watson, 18
Background Information
Born 15 April, 1990, Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson is the daughter of Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson. She has one full brother, Alex; she also has two stepbrothers from her mother's second marriage. From her father's second marriage, she has two half sisters, identical twins Nina and Lucy, and a half brother, Toby. She attended the Dragon School until 2003, when she moved on to Headington School. After the final two Harry Potter installments, Emma plans on attending university to study English (she is currently taking a gap year).
Harry Potter
In 1999, Emma was cast in the role of the studious and bossy Hermione Granger in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), having been supported by the novel's author, JK Rowling, since her first screen test. The film, released in 2001, got Emma world-wide fame at an early age, alongside co-stars Dan Radcliffe (Harry) and Rupert Grint (Ron).
With 2002 came the release of the sequel, The Chamber of Secrets, in which she again played Hermione, though she was not present for a good part of the end of the film due to her character's petrification.
Emma continued to play Hermione through the next films - 2004's Prisoner of Azkaban, 2005's Goblet of Fire, and 2007's Order of the Phoenix. She reprises her role in the upcoming sixth film, The Half-Blood Prince, which was originally set to be released on 21 November 2008 but was pushed back to 17 July 2009.
Emma mentioned a heavily-reported uncertainty about continuing the Harry Potter film series for the final three (then two) films, but she later confirmed that she would be returning for Half-Blood Prince and the final, two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part one to be released 19 November 2010, and the second sometime May 2011).
Above: Emma as Hermione in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone
Other Work
Emma's first non-Harry Potter work was the BBC One TV production Ballet Shoes alongside her Potter co-star Richard Griffiths. She portrayed Pauline.
In 2008, her first non-Harry Potter feature film, The Tale of Despereaux, was released. She voiced the role of Princess Pea.
Left: Emma voiced the role of Princess Pea in The Tale of Despereaux; right: she played Pauline in Ballet Shoes
