Emma Watson

Born in Paris, France, and raised as a British national, Watson began acting in school plays before landing her first professional role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series. That part launched her into international fame at a young age, but she balanced it with education, attending the Dragon School and training at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. She later graduated from Brown University in May 2014 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. Her career after Potter included Ballet Shoes (2007), The Tale of Despereaux (2008), My Week with Marilyn (2011), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). She earned critical acclaim for The Bling Ring (2013) and Noah (2014), and in 2014 she won British Artist of the Year from BAFTA. More recently, she starred as Belle in Beauty and the Beast (2017) and as Meg March in Little Women (2019).

Watson is also a prominent activist. In 2014, she became a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and helped launch the HeForShe campaign. She co-founded Time's Up UK in 2018 and served on a G7 advisory body for women's rights in 2019. Her modelling work includes campaigns for Burberry and Lancôme, and she has supported sustainable fashion through People Tree and Kering. As of April 2026, she has 72.4 million Instagram followers, and she has been named one of the world's highest-paid actresses by Forbes and Vanity Fair, as well as one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2015.