“I felt like I was showing more of myself and just had so much more opportunity to show what I can do as an actress,” says Watson, who has also shown more of herself in her personal life with her recent headline-making cropped do (more on that later). “[Director] David [Yates] really, really pushed me. He wouldn’t call cut until it was perfect. He really just wouldn’t settle for ‘acting,’ ” she says using air quotes.

“I think in the first movie, she really didn’t have much to do and she served the story diligently and well. I think [film] seven reveals that Emma actually has an acting brain, frankly,” says Yates. “It’s quite rare, and she’s hugely intuitive emotionally, and you’re starting to see that she can be a really compelling and fantastic actor.”

“This has been her signature look since she was like 16. Yeah, she’s a bit of a babe. So I’ve always been around women who have short hair. I think it’s really sexy, having all your hair off your neck and your skin bare,” says Watson, checking out her crop in a mirror behind her. “I’m still getting used to it, but I feel like I have ownership over it. Because I kind of felt my hair was half me, half Hermione, and with this, I can obviously completely disassociate myself from that role.”

“I have Hermione to thank, in a weird way, for my sense of style,” says Watson. “Playing this role, fashion was my way of expressing myself away from that school uniform. When I got the chance to dress myself, I was so thrilled to be able to be Emma and show a different side of myself. Maybe I would never have been this interested in fashion if I hadn’t played that role for so long and sometimes felt so constrained by being identified with her so much,” she continues, getting heated as she recalls, “I mean, I just wasn’t allowed to do anything: wasn’t allowed to cut my hair, put on nail varnish, tan, wear a bra that made my boobs in any way look [larger], have any flesh showing, wear any makeup when I was playing Hermione. I always had to back-comb my hair — ‘She looks too pretty, take down the blush or the mascara, take it off.’ Fashion was my rebellion.”

“People are constantly like, ‘What are you going to do?’ ‘What is your career plan?’ ‘What direction do you want it to take?’ ‘What roles do you have lined up?’ And I’m just like, “ ‘Sorry, I haven’t got everything mapped out, I’m only 20,’ ” says Watson. “And they look at me as if I’d have this perfectly calculated life plan and how I want my career to look. And I really don’t know yet. I’m still open to possibilities.”