Emma Watson and her dad Chris Watson attend the British Vogue and Tiffany & Co. Fashion and Film Party in March 2022 in London, England.Photo:David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty
Emma was born in Paris in 1990 and shot to superstardom when she landed the role of Hermione Granger in the movie adaptation ofJ.K. Rowling’sHarry Potterseries. “My parents helped me a lot,” she toldMetro Francein 2015. “Luckily they weren’t focused on my career. All that mattered to them was that I was happy.”
She was just 10 years old at the time and left home to begin shooting the movies that would soon make her a household name. Her parents, both full-time lawyers, stayed behind with her younger brother, Alex.
“I had to grow up quickly,” she toldGQU.K.in 2013, noting that her early independence made her “quite a serious young person.”
They raised Emma and her brother Alex in Paris
Emma Watson and brother Alex Watson at the “Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix” premiere in July 2007 in Hollywood, California.Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Their divorce prompted the family to move back to their native England, where Emma — then 6 years old — began to attend the Dragon School in Oxford and received acting lessons at her local Stagecoach Theatre Arts, according toBritish Vogue.
Chris and Jacqueline divorced in 1995
While little is known about the start of their marriage, Chris and Jacqueline went their separate ways in 1995. Their divorce accelerated Emma’s sense of independence and self-reliance, she explained toGQU.K.
“As my parents were divorced and they both worked full time, I had to grow up quickly,” Emma said. “I guess it made me quite a serious young person.”
After landing the part, she began traveling alone to film the movies while her parents stayed home to work and raise her brother. “I was responsible for myself, and being responsible for myself, I knew I was my own backstop,” she toldGQU.K. about avoiding a “rebellious phase.”
They worked full time during her rise to fame
Emma Watson arrives for the world premiere of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’.Yui Mok - PA Images/PA Images/Getty
Yui Mok - PA Images/PA Images/Getty
Both Chris and Jacqueline were full-time lawyers when Emma became a household name and continued to work as such as their daughter found her footing in the entertainment world. TheLittle Womenactress opened up toGQU.K. about what it was like being on the road for two months of filming at 10 years old.
“I was traveling; I was away from home,” she said. “My parents didn’t chaperone me. I think that was a key difference between me andDan [Radcliffe]andRupert [Grint]. I didn’t have my parents with me; I didn’t have a family member.”
Emma doesn’t fault her parents for focusing on their careers, though, adding that she “respected” their decision because Alex also needed to be considered.
She continued, “They both really are driven in their careers and as [they] are divorced, if my mum had gone traveling with me, she wouldn’t have been there for my brother. It wasn’t really a possibility.”
Chris and Jacqueline kept her down to earth
Emma Watson attends the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 31st Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party in March 2023.Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Despite becoming the star of one of the highest-grossing blockbuster series of all time, Emma was still just Emma at home. While her parents were supportive of her career, the magnitude of her success was never their focus — instead, they prized good conversation and her dedication to her studies.
“I guess what really forms you as a person, is what you do within your family to receive love or attention," she toldGQU.K. “In my family, what you had to do to receive attention was to have good conversation at the dinner table or for me to do well at school, and those were really my focuses because that was what was valued the most.”
Emma continued, “I think my parents were very focused on keeping me down to earth. The biggest compliment I’ve ever had, getting ready for a premiere or whatever, is that I scrub up all right.”
While their attitude helped her stay grounded, it also meant she didn’t fully grasp the extent of her status in Hollywood until she was older. “I really didn’t have any perspective of it. I was actually just incredibly naive about the whole thing,” she explained.
Chris raised Emma as an equal
Emma Watson with her dad, Chris Watson, and brother, Alex Watson, in 2022.Alex Watson Instagram
Alex Watson Instagram
Emma was brought up with the same expectations as her brother Alex, she toldGQU.K., explaining that her father never treated her differently based on her sex.
“I don’t think my dad really knew what to do with me, as a daughter. He treated me like a boy; my brother and I were treated the same,” she explained.
The Perks of Being a Wallfloweralum also revealed that Chris “didn’t do kid stuff” and viewed them as individuals.
“You weren’t allowed to order off the kid’s menu at dinner, we had to try something from the adult menu,” Emma said. “We’d play tennis, and he’d smack the ball as hard at me as he did with anyone else he played.”
Emma and her mom attended the Women’s March together in 2017
Paul Morigi/WireImage
In January 2017,The Bling Ringactress and her mother took to the streets of Washington, D.C., to take part in the Women’s March, a global protest against the election offormer President Donald Trump.
Emma,a UN Women Goodwill Ambassadorwho has long championed women’s rights and gender equality, shared photos of herself and Jacqueline marching alongside millions of other people, including aslew of fellow celebrities, onTwitter, now known as X.
Chris is a winemaker
Emma Watson and father Chris Watson pose in the evian VIP Suite At Wimbledon 2023 in July 2023 in London, England.Dave Benett/Getty
Dave Benett/Getty
While still living in Paris, Chris headed to Northern Burgundy to purchase several plots of land in the town of Chablis, France, in the early 1990s, which he went on to plant with vines that now make up the family’s estate,Domaine Watson. The winery offers two cuvées: a Pinot Noir grown in Irancy and a Chardonnay from Chablis.
Alex offered insight into the family’s backstory with the wineryon Instagram. “My dad first planted our vineyards more than 30 years ago, whilst working as a barrister in Paris,” he captioned a photo of him and Emma in a field. “He fell in love with the place and after consuming enough wine, [the locals] seem to have fallen in love with him too.”
Emma’s brother continued, “We went on to win an award as 2nd best independent producer of Chablis in 2002, and a few years after that he was appointed as one of only 25 piliers of the region, entrusted to safeguarding the best interests of the wine growers.”
Alex also explained how it inspired terroir-driven Renais, a gin company he and Emma launched in 2023.
source: people.com
