--- title: Beauty and the Beast: Emma Watson on Dream of Playing Belle description: Starring in Disney's live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast was apparently a fairy tale come true for Emma Watson. canonical: https://time.com/4707191/emma-watson-on-belle/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-20T21:00:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-24T06:56:50.293Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Emma Watson Explains Why Belle and Hermione Were Her Idols og:description: The Beauty and the Beast star is feeling "really lucky" og:url: https://time.com/4707191/emma-watson-on-belle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt240b2b1d3a13fc7f/6988bef2cd1bba28f07045ca/beauty-beast.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Film Review Beauty and the Beast og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Emma Watson Explains Why Belle and Hermione Were Her Idols twitter:description: The Beauty and the Beast star is feeling "really lucky" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt240b2b1d3a13fc7f/6988bef2cd1bba28f07045ca/beauty-beast.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Emma Watson Explains the Difference Between Idolizing Belle and Hermione ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. The Beauty and the Beast star is feeling "really lucky"_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 20, 2017 9:00 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 20, 2017 9:00 PM UTC Starring in [Disney’s live-action adaptation](http://time.com/4706209/beauty-and-the-beast-box-office/) of [_Beauty and the Beast_](http://time.com/4689999/beauty-and-the-beast-review/)was apparently a fairy tale come true fo[r Emma Watson](http://time.com/4702626/emma-watson-picture-hack/). During a recent press conference for the film, the 26-year-old actor told the [_Irish Independent_](http://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/celebrity-features/emma-watson-ive-always-said-forget-the-engagement-ring-build-me-a-library-35534318.html) that she felt fortunate to have already had the privilege to play two of her fictional role models — Belle and Hermione Granger. “I think that I just feel really lucky. For me, Belle was my childhood heroine; \[the animated original\] came out two days after I was born,” she said. “And then, in my early teens, it was about idolising Hermione. So to be given the chance to play my two childhood idols is probably a very unique and rare experience for an actress.” Watson also spoke about how she feels she has grown personally and professionally since the completion of the _Harry Potter_ series. “I think I came out of \[_Beauty and the Beast_\] with more confidence, with more skills. And more belief in myself,” she said. “Because when I came off Potter and decided to go to university, that wasn’t a career decision the people I worked with were pleased about. But I kind of… I try to stay true to whatever whisper I’m getting from myself and I hope that will see me through. That’s all I can do really. Otherwise, if I don’t listen to myself, I’d feel a bit lost in it all.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4707191/emma-watson-on-belle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4707191/emma-watson-on-belle/"},"headline":"Emma Watson Explains the Difference Between Idolizing Belle and Hermione","datePublished":"2017-03-20T21:00:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:50.293Z","description":"The Beauty and the Beast star is feeling \"really lucky\"","url":"https://time.com/4707191/emma-watson-on-belle/","keywords":["movies","Newsfeed","celebrities","Harry Potter","Emma Watson","Beauty and the Beast"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt240b2b1d3a13fc7f/6988bef2cd1bba28f07045ca/beauty-beast.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt240b2b1d3a13fc7f/6988bef2cd1bba28f07045ca/beauty-beast.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Film Review Beauty and the Beast","caption":"Film Review Beauty and the Beast","creditText":"Disney/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4707191/emma-watson-on-belle/","name":"Emma Watson Explains the Difference Between Idolizing Belle and Hermione"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"The Beauty and the Beast star is feeling \"really lucky\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4707191/emma-watson-on-belle/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4707191/emma-watson-on-belle/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```