Emma Watson spoke at depth about her work in the Harry Potter films, leading up to the finale in Deathly Hallows: Part 2, out July 15, as well as her heroic role of Hermione Granger, her relationship with costars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, and being one of the headliners of the decade-long series. The lengthy interview was accompanied by the four new images of Emma released earlier today; highlights can be read below.

How sad was it to say goodbye to Hermione?
It felt sad. She feels like an old friend of mine. So it does feel sad definitely.

Rupert was saying that he didn’t think that you will ever lose touch with each other. Is that something that you agree with?
Oh, I really hope that he never finds me again. No, of course. We grew up together. He’s practically like my brother. There’s no way that we’re losing touch.

Now that everything is completely finished, how do you feel? Liberated, completely sad?
Both. It’s very freeing on the one hand and very sad on the other. It’s both, bittersweet.

Do you remember the last day of the shooting? Only Daniel said something to the crew. Sometimes women prepare something for such important events not men.
That’s true! I feel like it was really Dan’s place, not mine, on that last day. I didn’t feel the need…I feel like between Dan and David Heyman they covered everything. So I didn’t have anything prepared.

Are you scared that people will only see you as Hermione and nothing else?
It’s funny, everyone keeps asking me that. I don’t feel scared at all. She is such an amazing role, such an amazing character. I don’t really want people to forget.

But what if you play another role and people remember you as Hermione?
I hope that I’m a good enough actress that people forget. And the other thing is that I’m still growing. I’m still changing in my physical appearance and in the way that I am. So I don’t think it should be too difficult. It’s not like I’m already formed. I’m still changing, I’m still diversifying. Maybe it’s ignorance that I’m not too worried but I’m not really.

How responsible did you feel about portraying Hermione to the fans?
Very. She is…where else in cinema or a big film franchise is there a female character that is not just supplementary or additional or the pretty face. She’s a breakthrough, I think. Ron says at the beginning, “I don’t know if we’ll get through a day without Hermione”. She’s like the brains behind the whole operation. And she’s so integral to that trio and to Harry’s success. I think she’s a very important figure. So yeah, I did feel responsible. She’s just really loved as well. She’s got such a big heart. She’s got a heart of gold. I definitely wanted to do her right. It would have been awful if I’d messed her up, awful!

Do you remember the experience of reading and anticipating the last book?
Definitely. It’s so funny, I was going on holiday the day that the last book was released. They were sending me a copy but I didn’t get it cause I wasn’t at home. So I was queuing in the airport for the book. I remember someone spotting me in the queue going “are you Emma Watson? Are you queuing for the Harry Potter book?” “Yes”. It was quite surreal really. I was dying…I couldn’t really wait until they send it to me. I just had to have it the minute I could get my hands on it.

What was your reaction when you read it?
I cried in a lot of moments. The moment that really got me was Dobby’s death. I was really weepy for that. I should have read it then going through it thinking “I’m gonna have to do this” but I didn’t. I just read it from a fan’s perspective. I really didn’t read it looking at it technically. I just read it as a fan. I just wanted to know what the ending was. I loved those books as well.

I thought elements of that were drawn into the film in a way and that Hermione reflected that a little bit because her clothes seemed more glamorous, when you come to the wedding in that beautiful red frock. I always remember little Hermione as rather a blue stocking…
Yeah, she is. In the book I think she’s wearing a black dress but the idea is that for the first time Ron noticed how beautiful she was. Jeannie chose red because she thought black wouldn’t have been quite…I don’t know. I mean yes and no. I think she blossoms later on. That’s the idea. But after that scene she’s back into her jeans and her hoodies.

It’s often said that you’re so similar to Hermione. You’re very clever, you work very hard. Is there anything which you think is very different from her?
I like to think I’m a little bit more relaxed and a little bit more fun. And a bit more mischievous.

What do you think of your dancing scene with Harry that is not in the book?
I think that it’s important cause the film is so intense. From the opening scene, it’s intense and all the way through until the end. So without that scene there wouldn’t be much reprieve. It’s a nice break. But it’s also nice to see Harry tender and caring towards Hermione, just showing how nice a boy-girl friendship can be.

Will we call you an action heroine after Part 8?
I hope so. Definitely.

Daniel said it was not so much fun to shoot all the action stuff.
It was a bit scary at times. We didn’t really have much training or much warning sometimes.

Why was it scary?
As much as they can prepare you or put stunt doubles in there, there’s a certain amount that you have to do yourself. You can’t get away from doing nothing. I guess that was scary.

What was the serious thing you had to do?
I threw myself off the top of a vault onto the back of a dragon. But it meant that I was doing a sort of…I mean I had crash mats. I don’t want to exaggerate, 20 or 30 foot drop. I just had to dive off into my stomach.

That is against every instinct.
Exactly. Your body’s saying “no,no,no!” And you have to just do it. And the pyrotechnics. There were lots of bangs and explosions. When there’s one fight, to get those sparks and stuff they plant pyrotechnics everywhere and I was terrified that I was gonna…if you run the wrong way or you go in the wrong direction or whatever, you have to be very…you gotta act at the same time as being aware of where all of them are whilst remaining on camera whilst…and you’re just like “Oh God, please don’t let…” You just hope you’re not gonna screw up really.

You have all the opportunities in the world, you could have taken a year or two off but you’ve decided to study. What’s the reason for that?
I just love learning. I’m like addicted to learning. I just want to know as much as I possibly can. It’s never enough for me. And I’ll never stop. I just really love knowledge. Addicted!