Movies

Being Hermione

She's more than Harry Potter's side-chick.

With a plum gig as witch-in-training Hermione Granger in the just-out "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", Emma Watson, 12, is the envy of girls -- and boys -- everywhere. She gets to portray the smartest heroine in recent memory, one-third of Gen-Y's most popular literary trio. Watson recently spoke with us from her home in England:

What's your take on Hermione?
She's very confident. I think she represents girl power, really.

But at first ...
... she's a bit of a nerd. When Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron (Rupert Grint) come into the picture, she begins to realize there's more to life than books. She kind of loosens up.

What's the toughest part of being practically the only girl on the set?
Coping with all these boys. Aaagh! It's just really hard. But Dan and Rupert are really, really, really nice. I talked to them tons, and we are good friends.

If there were a dream school, it would have to be Hogwarts!
The massive great hall is absolutely amazing. But once you've been filming there for three days and you have all the food on the tables, I've got to tell you, it begins to stink. Utterly reeks.

Too bad Hermione doesn't get to play Quidditch, zooming around on a broom.
Yes! Majorly! I would love to. I really envy [Dan Radcliffe]. I think that's so cool to do, like, all the stunts and stuff.

In real life, you play several sports. What do you want to be when you grow up?
My mission is to play [field] hockey for England!

I can't see Hermione doing that. Do you think she'll rejoin the "Muggles" in the mortal world when she's grown up?
I think once you get into the magic world, you don't really go out.

Spoken with the confidence of Hermione. ... What would you tell Harry if you could?
As Emma? Rock on!

-- Michele Hatty