Emma Watson Shares 'Hermione Granger' Fame 'Terrifying'

Emma Watson was not always the confident actress that she is today. She may currently be a strong voice in the feminism movement, but she was really "terrified" of her fame when she was young and casted to play Hermione Granger of the "Harry Potter" series. 

Speaking to Porter magazine on its Incredible Women issue, the actress shared that being famous while young was not as great as people would expect it to be, at least for her. She was just a kid when given the Hermione Granger role in the "Harry Potter" movie, which propelled her to stardom. However, at the time, the level of interest people had in her life only served to scare her. A lot of this stems from being unsure yet of who she is since she was still a kid.

"As a young person that feeling of not being comfortable in my own skin was exacerbated by the microscope I was under," she explained. "The level of questioning I was under, coming at such a young age. People asking me, 'What do you think of this? Who are you, who are you, who are you?' I felt so inadequate because I just didn't have answers yet." 

She added that she cannot really blame these negative feelings on her age because some of her friends already have a clear sense of themselves. She shared that her friends already liked certain things and have an inkling of their identities while she was still very unsure of herself. She questioned everything while people were questioning her about her life, making her "terrified."

Now that she is 25, things have improved. She already felt a sense of self that she is comfortable with. She also said she wants to always be her "most authentic self" and for there not be any "big separation" between her private and public self.

Recently, the actress launched a feminist book club called "Our Shared Shelf," as reported by the Wall Street Journal. It garnered an immediate following. Currently, it has more than 76,000 followers.  She shared that she thought of the book club because there are so much "amazing stuff out there" that are "thought-provoking, empowering."