Emma Watson's First Post-Harry Potter Role Was In An Oscar-Nominated Marilyn Monroe Project

The amazingly successful "Harry Potter" film series spanned a decade, with the first movie hitting theaters in 2001 and the eighth and final one arriving in 2011. These films changed directors multiple times, but the quality and studio slickness remained consistent throughout, as did the primary cast (mostly). Daniel Radcliffe was still just a kid when he starred in the first movie (having previously appeared in the 2001 spy flick "The Tailor of Panama), as were his co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. Nonetheless, the world was impressed with their performances and wondered if they would remain actors once the series was over ... and, with a small amount of concern, if they would be able to cope with having massive levels of fame at such an early age.

Luckily, many of the young actors from the "Harry Potter" movies are thriving. Indeed, Watson's first post-"Potter" project was Simon Curtis' 2011 Oscar darling "My Week with Marilyn." The movie was based on real-life filmmaker Colin Clark's memoir about his experience working as a young production assistant on 1956's "The Prince and the Showgirl," a film that Laurence Olivier directed and starred in opposite Marilyn Monroe. The movie's version of Clark, as played by Eddie Redmayne, is a capable assistant who secures discreet housing for Marilyn (Michelle Williams) and her then-husband, Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Marilyn begins to trust Colin, and they spend some private time together. They don't have a sexual affair, but according to Clark, they did kiss and go skinny-dipping.

Meanwhile, Watson plays Lucy, a wardrobe assistant who starts dating Colin before realizing that her new potential boyfriend is becoming infatuated with Marilyn. Watson's role isn't a huge one, although she's since taken on much bigger parts in other films.

"My Week with Marilyn" is primarily about how the real Marilyn Monroe was magnetic and mysterious yet wounded and afraid. Lucy is the one who wisely, and painfully, witnesses Colin making an ass of himself for a woman who doesn't seem to care about him, at least not romantically. The movie also starred Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier and, as mentioned, was an awards season favorite, with Michelle Williams and Branagh both receiving acting Oscar nods. By coincidence, Eddie Redmayne would later star in the "Fantastic Beasts" movies, themselves spin-offs/prequels to the "Harry Potter" films.

As for Emma Watson, she spent the rest of the 2010s being selective about her projects. Her most noteworthy credits include the acclaimed 2012 coming-of-age drama "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and Sofia Coppola's 2013 true-crime film "The Bling Ring," along with the 2013 meta-comedy "This is the End" (where she played "herself") and Darren Aronofsky's 2014 gonzo Old Testament epic "Noah." Watson also played Belle in Disney's live-action 2017 "Beauty and the Beast" remake and the March sister Meg in Greta Gerwig's well-received 2019 "Little Women" film adaptation.

Watson has since taken a break from acting. In a 2023 interview with the Financial Times, she and her brother discussed their family's interest in wine and making gin. (Watson appears on the Renais Gin website.) As Watson explained, "I wasn't very happy, if I'm being honest. [...] I think I felt a bit caged." She added that she didn't like being interviewed by journalists about her roles and having to take a moral stance based on her characters, but would "of course!" return to acting for the right role. Until then, buy a bottle of her family's gin.