Emma Watson Almost Quit ‘Harry Potter’ for This Reason
Could you imagine the Harry Potter franchise without Emma Watson as Hermione Granger? It almost happened!
In a preview of the HBO Max Harry Potter cast reunion, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, Rupert Grint (who portrayed Ron Weasley) mentioned that she was "considering pulling out" and that he never actually discussed that with her. She was contemplating departing during the fifth installment in the film series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
“I think I was scared. I don’t know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point where you were like, ‘This is kind of forever now.'" she admitted.
Watson later added, "The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way." She noted that "no one had to convince" her to finish her character's story despite her struggle with fame and feeling of loneliness.
Watson wasn't the only one that questioned if they should leave the wizarding world. Grint also had similar reservations.
"I had moments like that kind of all the way through," he told his former co-star. "I also had similar feelings to Emma kind of contemplating what life would be like if I called it a day, but we never really spoke about it. I guess we were just kind of going through it at our own pace. We were kind of in the moment at the time. It just didn't really occur to us that we were all having similar feelings."
Daniel Radcliffe added that though they were going through similar circumstances, as kids, they didn't check on one another.
"We never talked about it on the film because we were all just kids," Radcliffe added. "As a 14-year-old boy, I was never going to turn around to another 14-year-old and be like, 'Hey, how are you doing? Is everything okay?'"
Producer David Heyman previously revealed back in November 2013 that the cast only initially signed on for the first two films. He told The Hollywood Reporter that it was difficult to have Watson sign on again because she considered leaving to focus on her education.
"Emma, in particular, was quite academic and was very keen in [the] pursuit of schooling and was wrestling a little bit more than the others," Heyman revealed. "So each time there was a negotiation, it was not about a financial [matter], it really was about, 'Do I want to be a part of this?' We had to be sensitive to her needs and how important school was to her."
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 1.
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