Emma Watson Covers Vogue US July 2011

She was only nine years old when she was taken to audition for producer David Heyman. In just a few minutes her life changed completely and she became world-famous for the role of Hermione Granger in the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise. Now, Emma Watson is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. The 21-year-old actress strikes a glamorous pose for Vogue magazine July 2011, the US edition, lensed by renowned photographer Mario Testino. In the cover story, Emma opens up and talks about her education, career and her struggle to balance the two, about her ‘Harry Potter’ co-star Daniel Radcliffe, but also about her fashion collaborations and her romantic character.

“I’m a feminist, but I think that romance has been taken away a bit for my generation. I think what people connect with in novels is this idea of an overpowering, encompassing love — and it being more important and special than anything and everything else,” Emma told ‘Vogue’. And when she will meet the perfect man, she wants to keep their relationship away from the public eye. Well, at least she hopes so. “I would love to not date someone in the same industry as me. Otherwise it becomes what it means to everyone else,” she says.

Still, until now, her life has been constantly in the spotlight. “I have had no control over my life. I have lived in a complete bubble. They found me and picked me for the part. And now I’m desperately trying to find my way through it,” she confesses. Yet, the young actress struggled to combine education and career. “I have felt for the last ten years I have had this battle; I’ve been fighting so hard to have an education. It’s been this uphill struggle. I was Warner Bros.’ pain in the butt. I was their scheduling conflict. I was the one who made life difficult. I just realized at one point that I can’t fight everything. I have to move in the direction of it — and go with it,” Emma admits.

Fashion was always of particular interest for Emma. Her personal style proves it and her collaborations and projects as well. In 2009, she appeared in Burberry’s fall campaign, but she also supported newer, edgier designers, such as Hakaan Yildirim and Erdem Moralioglu. “I thought, If people are going to write about what I’m wearing, then I would wear young British designers who need the publicity,” Emma told the magazine.

Besides, Watson started to experiment with designing herself, collaborating with People Tree, a fair-trade clothing organization, on three collections. “It was such hard work. I didn’t realize what I was taking on. I was doing twelve-hour days on Harry Potter and then coming home to work for two more hours, sizing and cutting designs,” the actress says. Then, a few months ago, Alberta Ferretti asked Emma to collaborate with her on an eco-friendly line called ‘Pure Threads’. Emma was extremely thrilled and says that, “I practically cried.”

Speaking about her ‘Harry Potter’ co-star, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma told ‘Vogue’ that, “He understood what his role was, not just as an actor but as the leading man in this enormous franchise. And I think that was almost more important in a way. He held it all together. I am very grateful for him.”

Currently, Emma is turning yet another page of her career and will star in a big screen book adaptation, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, a story about a teenager who writes letters about his adolescence and the struggles of growing up. When reading the script, Emma knew instantly that she had to play the role of Samantha. Speaking about her new film, the actress says that, “Sam is such a different girl from who I am. I’ve been listening to the Smiths” — Sam’s favorite band — “on repeat for weeks.”