Emma Watson found film promo "soul-destroying"

Another thing Watson has been glad to leave behind is the hard work of promoting a film. “I do not miss selling things,” she said. “I found that to be quite soul-destroying.” That doesn’t mean she doesn’t miss the craft itself, however; she just found that “the balance of that can get quite thrown off.” “I do very much miss using my skill-set, and I very much miss the art,” she continued. “I just found I got to do so little of the bit that I actually enjoyed.”

For Watson, acting was an escape. “[T]he minute the camera rolls, and getting to just completely forget about everything else in the world other than that one moment—it’s such an intense form of meditation,” she shared. “Because you just cannot be anywhere else. It’s so freeing. I miss that profoundly. But I don’t miss the pressure. I forgot it was a lot of pressure. I did a small thing for a play, just with my friends. I was like, ‘Bloody hell, this is stressful!’ And that wasn’t even for a real public audience or anything. I don’t miss that.”

Despite her career pivot, Watson is still “working really hard” on other things. She’s studying for a DPhil in creative writing at Oxford, runs a sustainable gin brand called Renais with her brother, and advocates for women’s rights, environmental justice, and more. She also has something cooking “that I’ve never done before,” but she didn’t want to share what that was “because then people are like, ‘Well, when is it happening? What’s going on with this thing?'” Whatever it is, we’ll learn it on her timeline. “Oddly, somehow, the less I try to do, the more I get done,” she said. “I don’t know how I would shape the distinction between effort and trying. Or maybe what I would say is: I’m caring, and I’m present.” That’s what really matters.