"For me, it's the difference between being able to have a life and not"
Emma Watson is no stranger to the fact that fame comes with a spotlight. Since making her onscreen debut at the age of 11 playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, Watson has been beloved by fans all over the world.
However, in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the Beauty and the Beast star revealed she has adopted a set of personal rules for interacting with her supporters since the conclusion of the wizarding world series — specifically noting that she generally says no to selfies.
“For me, it’s the difference between being able to have a life and not. If someone takes a photograph of me and posts it, within two seconds they’ve created a marker of exactly where I am within 10 meters. They can see what I’m wearing and who I’m with. I just can’t give that tracking data,” she said. “I’ll say, ‘I will sit here and answer every single Harry Potter fandom question you have but I just can’t do a picture.’ I have to carefully pick and choose my moment to interact. When am I a celebrity sighting versus when am I going to make someone’s freakin’ week? Children I don’t say no to, for example.”
Watson went on to explain that she feels the obsessive nature of the Harry Potter fandom has created unique circumstances for her as a celebrity. “I have met fans who have my face tattooed on their body,” she said. “I’ve met people who used the Harry Potter books to get through cancer. I don’t know how to explain it, but the Harry Potter phenomenon steps into a different zone. It crosses into obsession. A big part of me coming to terms with it was accepting that this is not your average circumstances.”
Read more at VanityFair.com.