Writing 6, Judit Cortés

Emma Watson

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson was born on April 15, 1990, in Paris. Her parents, both British lawyers, are Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson. Her brother, Alex, was born three years later. Her parents divorced when Watson was 5, and she moved back to Oxfordshire in England with her mother and brother.

Watson attended the Stagecoach Theatre Arts school at Oxford. She studied singing, acting and dancing, and performed in school plays. Her natural instinct for acting first came out when she won a poetry competition for reciting James Reeves' "The Sea" at age 7. Watson had never acted professionally when her theater teachers suggested her to agents looking to cast an upcoming movie based on the first novel of the best-selling Harry Potter series.

A 9-year-old Watson auditioned eight times for the role that would make her an international star. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

In 2007 Emma Watson starred in another film based on a children's novel, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield. The film was aired on BBC One, and with Watson in the lead role, garnered decent, if not stellar, reviews.

In 2008, Watson branched out into animated work, voicing the character of Princess Pea in The Tale of Despereaux.

Though they spent their adolescence on film sets, Watson and costars Radcliffe and Grint kept up with their lessons, with five hours of tutoring each day.  She took high school equivalency exams, and made high scores in every subject. Watson took a year off from school to film the final two Potter movies, but maintained that she was committed to furthering her education.

As a teenager coming of age as an established movie star, Watson has also emerged as a fashionista. In September 2009 Watson announced that she was working with People Tree, a fashion label that promotes fair trade.

In March 2011 Watson announced that she was deferring her schooling to work on the Potter finale. In July 2011, Watson announced plans to return to Brown for a year to complete her degree after studying at Oxford University in the fall. She graduated from Brown in 2014 with an English degree. That same year, she was appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. She continues to speak out for women's rights and equality.