Emma Watson "wasn't very happy" before she stepped away from acting.
Emma Watson wasn't happy as an actress
The 33-year-old actress - who shot to fame playing Hermione Granger in the 'Harry Potter' film series when she was just 11 years old - hasn't starred in a movie since 2018's 'Little Women' and she struggled with feeling "caged" and like she "didn't have a voice" when she was expected to promote projects she had no creative control over.
She explained to the Financial Times newspaper: "I think I felt a bit caged. The thing I found really hard was that I had to go out and sell something that I really didn’t have very much control over. To stand in front of a film and have every journalist be able to say, 'How does this align with your viewpoint?' It was very difficult to have to be the face and the spokesperson for things where I didn't get to be involved in the process.
"I was held accountable in a way that I began to find really frustrating, because I didn't have a voice, I didn't have a say.
"And I started to realise that I only wanted to stand in front of things where if someone was going to give me flak about it, I could say, in a way that didn't make me hate myself, 'Yes, I screwed up, it was my decision, I should have done better.'"
But Emma "absolutely" plans to return to acting, and will be shooting a film early next year.
She added: "I'm happy to sit and wait for the next right thing. I love what I do. It's finding a way to do it where I don't have to fracture myself into different faces and people.
"And I just don't want to switch into robot mode anymore."
The 'Perks of Being a Wallflower' actress has enjoyed having more time at her family's vineyard, where her and brother Alex's recently-launched gin Renais is made.
She said: "There was definitely a gap when Alex took more of a role here.
"But now that I'm not making films every year there's a bit more time to play with. For me, getting involved with the creative side of the gin has been fun because I have a voice and I can bring everything that I've learnt to help.
"Alex is the expert on gin, and dad is the expert on wine, but it's really nice to be asked to be involved."
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