Emma Watson’s talents transcend boundaries, with her appearance in myriads of fantasy films as well as critically acclaimed projects. However, despite her lengthy filmography, the actress is popularly known for bringing Hermione Granger to life in the Harry Potter film series.
Appearing in eight Harry Potter movies, Emma Watson cemented her career in the entertainment industry. However, during an interview, Watson recalled her genuine reaction when she was informed about the producers’ plan to split the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two movies. Initially being less than thrilled with the decision, the actress admitted her cynical behavior.
Emma Watson was Concerned About the Ending of the Harry Potter Franchise
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels acquired a major fanbase after getting adapted into a film series starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint in titular roles. Crafting eight movies out of seven books, the Wizarding World has now become a popular choice of watch for fans, all over the world.
However, while Potterheads were thrilled to know Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was going to be split into two separate movies, the actors faced a bit of confusion. Particularly Emma Watson recalled having initial doubts about producers’ decision regarding the end of the franchise.
Having portrayed Hermione Granger in all eight films, starting from the age of nine, Emma Watson spent the better part of her life shooting and promoting the films. Although the actress was grateful for the Harry Potter movies catapulting her fame, Watson told Collider that she was a little taken aback by the decision to make 8 movies out of 7 books.
“At first, I’ll be honest, at first I was like ‘oh my goodness’ cause we were doing [film] 6 at the time, I was like ‘oh my God three more movies’ I was just overwhelmed, I was like wow that is a lot. I was like, ‘is this a money spinner?’ you know I was very cynical and dubious about it. I’ll be honest I was not immediately impressed.”
Admitting to have discussed her concerns with the filmmaker and the producers regarding the split, Emma Watson opened up about what changed her perspective.
Watson Took Her Time to Realize the Logic Behind Two Deathly Hallows Films
Emma Watson’s concerns were rooted in her fear that the producers’ decision to split the last book was actually motivated by a desire to increase profits, rather than a genuine interest in telling the story in the best possible way. Therefore given her long-drawn commitment to the Harry Potter franchise, the actress admitted to initially expressing concerns.
However, after discussing the reason behind the decision to create two movies out of one book, with director David Yates and the producers, Emma Watson admitted to understanding the reason behind the split. Realizing that the final book’s complex storyline could not be adequately told in a single film, Watson noted changing her perspective.
“But, then I thought about it and I talked about it with David, the producers, and they said ‘Look, there’s no way we can fit everything into one movie. It’ll be too much. It won’t be a good movie, it won’t be true to the book. We’re not even sure we could call it ‘Deathly Hallows’ cause we don’t even know if we can fit that storyline in cause we’re trying to focus so much on getting the Horcruxes and killing them. We’d have to call it something different, it would just be crazy’ and I was like ‘Oh, okay.’”
The actress behind Hermione Granger acknowledged that the split actually allowed for a more detailed and faithful adaptation of the book, which would have been otherwise impossible to achieve in a single movie. Therefore, after seeing through the motive and realizing the reason behind it, Emma Watson ultimately supported the decision, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was thus turned into Part 1 and Part 2.
“As soon as I saw the logic behind it I realized that it was absolutely the way we had to do it. So yeah, it made total sense and I was totally behind it. Certainly, at first, I had my reservations.”
The two films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 thereafter went on to receive widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. And eventually, the popularity of the two films proved Emma Watson’s initial doubts wrong
The Harry Potter film series is available on Max.
