Emma Watson Cried Happy Tears Watching “Cursed Child”

Emma Watson has spoken for the first time about how she felt watching Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London last summer. Understandably, seeing Hermione alive and well in her middle-age years was quite overwhelming for the actress, who last played the character in 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

It was so strange. It was so emotional seeing Noma [Dumezweni]’s performance in a way that I had not anticipated at all. She walked in the room, and I just spontaneously burst into tears. …  I had played that character so intensely up until that point, that to know that Hermione was going to be okay — I know it sounds crazy — but to know that everything turned out all right and everything in the world was okay, that there was someone else carrying her on and carrying her forward … it was just such a relief.

Watson noted that although Deathly Hallows ended with “a little flash forward,” she always felt that Hermione “kind of gets stuck in time at 20 years old, 19 years old … I wanted [Hermione] to have a future.”

The actress said Dumezweni captured Hermione’s heart and spirit, and they shared a bond through the studious Muggle-born witch they both helped bring to life.

The weird thing is that Noma was a complete stranger, but I felt like I had known her forever. There was just an instant intimacy and connection.

You can watch the interview clip for yourself below. Be sure to check out the full interview with Watson in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, which is available to buy now.

Watson will next be seen in Disney’s live adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, which hits theaters in a matter of weeks! What do you think of her comments on Cursed Child? Let us know your thoughts!