Emma Watson Opens up About ‘Painful Experience’ Making Friends Outside of ‘Harry Potter'

In her very first podcast appearance, the actress best known as Hermione Granger opened up about pausing her acting and the rejection she felt after "Harry Potter."

On September 24, 2025, Emma Watson appeared on the "On Purpose" podcast by Jay Shetty, where she spoke about walking away from fame. During part of the conversation, she talked about the harsh experience of going to sets after working on one of the biggest franchises in the world.

The more than two-hour-long show revealed many exclusive details, including Watson's thoughts on J.K. Rowling and her search for mental well-being.

But the actress also revealed that one of the reasons why she decided to pause her work because she was going to sets after working in "Harry Potter" with the idea that her coworkers would become like a family to her, or at least, really close friends.

"I came to work looking for friendship, and that was a very painful experience for me outside of 'Harry Potter' and in Hollywood, like bonebreakingly painful," she said. "Because most people don't come to those environments looking for friendships."

The actress explained that others were looking to establish their careers and what they wanted for their future. She didn't think like that.

"And so I found the friendship rejection really painful. I think it's so unusual to make a set of films for 12 years, and we were a community, like we really were," Watson continued. "And so I took that as an expectation into my other workplaces, and I just got my [expletive] kicked. I really did."

According to IMDb, the actress' last big project was Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" from 2019, also starring Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, and Florence Pugh.