Emma Watson has affirmed her enduring affection for Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, stating she refuses to “cancel her out” despite their well-documented disagreement on gender identity issues.
Watson was among several prominent actors from the Potter film franchise who publicly dissented from Rowling’s views in 2020.
In a recent interview, the actress expressed: “It’s my deepest wish that I hope people who don’t agree with my opinion will love me, and I hope I can keep loving people who I don’t necessarily share the same opinion with.”
However, Rowling appeared to respond critically to these conciliatory remarks, posting a message seemingly directed at “anyone who may be regretting their very public sprint to the front of the mob and is now trying to discreetly shove their pitchfork out of sight.”
Watson, along with Daniel Radcliffe, previously distanced herself from Rowling after the author ignited controversy with her comments on trans activism, which she argued had diminished the concept of biological sex.
Rowling faced accusations of transphobia, which she has denied, citing concerns about the implications for women in single-sex spaces.
In a recent interview with podcaster Jay Shetty, Watson addressed apparent critical statements Rowling has made about her and her co-stars in light of their differences.
Watson stated that her past relationship with Rowling allows her to continue to “treasure Jo.”
She further commented: “I think the thing I’m most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible.”
The actress, now 35, lauded Rowling for the “kindness and words of encouragement” she provided during her formative years, as well as the opportunity to portray a character that “to be honest barely exists in the history of English literature.”
“There’s just no world in which I could ever cancel her out, or cancel that out, for anything,” Watson asserted. “It has to remain true. It is true.”
“I just don’t know what else to do other than hold these two seemingly incompatible things together at the same time and just hope maybe they will one day resolve or co-join themselves, and maybe accept that they never will, but that they can both still be true.”
“And I can love her, I can know she loved me, I can be grateful to her, I can know the things that she said [about me] are true, and there can be this whole other thing.”
“And my job feels like to just hold all of it. But the bigger thing is just, what she’s done will never be taken away from me.”
Watson portrayed Hermione Granger in the eight film adaptations of Rowling’s books, released between 2001 and 2011.
Following Watson’s interview, Rowling posted a message on X on Thursday: “A little reminder for anyone who may be regretting their very public sprint to the front of the mob and is now trying to discreetly shove their pitchfork out of sight.”
She did not explicitly name Watson or any other individual.
The author linked to a post she wrote in May, which began: “In light of recent open letters from academia and the arts criticising the UK’s Supreme Court ruling on sex-based rights, it’s possibly worth remembering that nobody sane believes, or has ever believed, that humans can change sex, or that binary sex isn’t a material fact.”
Watson was among 1,600 figures in film and television who signed an open letter expressing “solidarity with the trans, non-binary, and intersex communities” affected by the Supreme Court ruling, which defined a woman as being defined by biological sex under equalities law.
Other signatories included Eddie Redmayne, who starred in Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts films; Paapa Essiedu, who will portray Severus Snape in the upcoming Potter TV series; and Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the Potter movies.
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