She's a talented actress starring in an eagerly anticipated new film entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 2. Part 2! And you know it! It opens on Friday. Ladies and gentlemen, here's the lovely Emma Watson. Emma, come on up.
Hi Emma. How are you?
I'm very well how are you.
I, uh, you know I'm okay. So you had the big London premier the other night. How did that go?
It was alright. Um, I uh, cried, but apart from that--
It was emotional!
--it went well.
Now as I alluded to earlier, this is a segment of your life that is now finished, right?
Yeah.
That you started when you were nine?
I started when I was nine and I'm now twenty-one. And yes, it's all over. Or all ends.
It's just a chapter, and we move on to another chapter... Do you look back on this period of your life and think, "what a childhood I had"?
Yeah! I mean, it was pretty remarkable in every way. I mean, one in a lifetime kind of experience.
Any regrets about how you spent your, well, nine years old all the way... I mean it's really, it's more than you've been alive almost, isn't it?
Yes, I have actually spent more time being Hermione than I have being myself, so it's pretty crazy.
But now your parents helped you become an actress at that age? You wanted to become an actress? How did this happen?
No, none of the above actually. I think my parents wanted me to be a dentist or a lawyer or something sensible like that. But, no, they came to my school, it wasn't, you know, a theater school or anything like that...
Now when you say "they," the producers?
The people who were auditioning, I guess, kids, and they saw me in my school gym and they took my photograph and they asked me if I would come to London for an audition, but they--
Oh, see, you have to be very careful about things like that. I mean, it's not funny, but...
Well they... Thank goodness there was nothing sinister about it. But basically the whole thing just kind of... happened to me.
And it's your life now.
And now it's my life.
And you don't know anything different. Do you have friends who are not in the Harry Potter movies, and do you look at their lives and think, "oh I wonder what it would've been like if I'd had a life like that"?
I think it would've been much more boring! I'm pretty happy with the way my life turned out.
You should be. Can you imagine now looking back on this segment of your life and saying, "I had the chance to be the Harry Potter girl, but I turned it down." Oh that wouldn't work, would it?
No, that would've been awful. Absolutely awful. I mean, who doesn't want to be THE Harry Potter girl?
Exactly.
So...
The Harry Potter girl! So tonight is the Premier here in New York City, right? It will be different than the London premier or are they about the same?
It will be different. It's always different because it's a very different... it's a different audience. The London audience tends to be a bit more reserved and, uh..
Americans are dumb, right!
No, no! They're a lot warmer! Audience members will come up and say, "that was very good." and then you've got the American audience, "That was awesome! That was awesome!!" And I'm like, as much as I love being in the UK, that's the kind of response you want to get for your movie. And people...
Awesome meaning inspiring awe! Now I heard that when you showed up at the theater people went crazy.
Watson: They, I mean, it was pretty crazy.
Letterman: Yes, yes.
Watson: I mean there were, there were, I think there were sort of like twelve thousand people who showed up. Umm, no that's a serious number, I'm not even exaggerating that. It was crazy. It was crazy, crazy, crazy. Ummm, I think people identify with it; they feel like it was a part of their lives and their childhood, and they feel like that's over for them as well. So it's really emotional for them, too. Umm, I think--
Letterman: Mhm.
Watson: Try to, try to analyze it, understand.
Letterman: Now how many films are we talking about in the whole series?
Watson: Eight.
Letterman: That's crazy, isn't it?
Watson: It is, isn't it?
Letterman: I mean--
[Audience applause]
Watson: Yeah. Eight. Eight Harry Potter films. Yeah.
[Audience applause]
Letterman: I'm not a film historian, but I would guess that--has there been a series of eight films like that in, I don't know, in the last hundred years? Geez, really?
Watson: I mean, I don't know! I don't think so! Not with the same cost.
Letterman: Yeah. Do you remember the Andy Hardy movies? You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?
[Audience laughter]
Watson: That must have been... [mumbled]
Letterman: There must have been eight Andy Hardy movies, 'cause, there was like a, uh, "Andy Hardy Falls In Love," "Andy Hardy Goes to College"...
[Audience laughter]
Letterman: "Andy Hardy Needs a Tissue." It was just crazy stuff.
Watson: I think Andy Hardy and, you know, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Prisoner of Azkaban," stuff like that, sounds very exciting, doesn't it?
Letterman: [laughs] Yeah. Those--you could have been the Andy Hardy girl.
[Audience laughter]
Watson: Somehow, somehow Harry Potter's got a better--
Letterman: Now listen, seriously, now that you're done the Harry Potter activities, tell me about your lessons, you schooling, how's that going?
Watson: It's going very well.
Letterman: What year are you now?
Watson: I'm about to go into my third year.
Letterman: And where do you go to school, Oxford?
Watson: I'm going to go to Oxford in October, for a year, to study, uh, abroad, it's meant to be, but obviously it's at home for me, so there's kind of an irony in that. [Audience laughter] And then I'll do my third year--my fourth year back in the States.
Letterman: What are you studying--at Oxford, what are you studying there?
Watson: English.
Letterman: It's a huge party school, right, Oxford?
Watson: Oh, crazy, you don't even know what these kids get up to. It's insane. Uhh, yeah. It's gonna--I'm not sure I'm ready for it.
Letterman: It's good, though, that you're doing that, because it makes you a more admirable person.
Watson: Oh, thank you!
Letterman: And, oh, speaking of your co-star Harry, uh, Potter--
Watson: Yes?
[Audience laughter]
Letterman: There are reports now that he--and it's a lot of pressure--
Watson: Yes.
Letterman: Excuse me. Was that something? Did you hear that?
Watson: I did! There was a buzz, there was a beep.
Letterman: Was that my pacemaker?
[Audience laughter]
Letterman: I don't know. Oh, I know! Somebody else is breaking in! But, uh, he struggled, and often would, uh, you know--
Watson: Would drink.
Letterman: Yeah, did you know that? Can we talk about that?
Watson: To be honest, it's really not something that I genuinely know much about. You should--I mean, he is the one to talk about it, but as far as I know, he never took a sick day, he was the most professional, amazing--
Letterman: Good for him. You--one can understand the pressure because it's not normal, first of all--show business, nothing normal about show business.
Watson: No, there's nothing normal about it.
Letterman: It's like monkeys on a rock.
[Audience laughter]
Letterman: And secondly, for a, for a kid, it's double the pressure.
Watson: Yes.
Letterman: Now, do you drink at all? Do you use, uh, controlled substances?
[Audience laughter, applause]
Watson: Umm, I mean, gosh, umm, [laughs] No, I don't.
Letterman: 'Cause I know the Brits, the Brits really--Have you ever had whiskey, or one of those distilled spirits, have you ever tried that?
Watson: Umm, actually, I mean, yes. I mean, I have tried spirits. Of course [mumbled]--we drink at 18 in the UK, but I'm actually legal here now as well, it's worth mentioning. I'm 21. Ummm [laughs].
Letterman: Just flaunting it!
Watson: But yeah! No. Umm. This is so--I can't--
Letterman: No, all you gotta say, did it happen? Did you have a shot of something and did you--look, you either did and you liked it or you did and you didn't like it. What--
Watson: I mean it's just, I mean, there are substances--I mean--whis--[audience laughter] I'm dying here! Can we move on? I don't want to talk about--
Letterman: No, no--yes--let me help here. I, uh, have you ever had anything to drink?
Watson: Have I ever had anything to drink? Yes. Yes, I have. I've got very very drunk, once in my life, everybody does--
Letterman: That's all I'm looking for!
Watson: You know. That's all you wanted! Fine! I have been drunk!
[Audience applause]
Letterman: Have you ever had to take a leak on the subway?
Watson: No! It's never got that bad. It's never been that bad. Thankfully, it's never been that bad.
Letterman: I'm sorry--is it the underground or the tube?
Watson: It's the tube, yeah.
Letterman: You know what let's do now, Emma. Let's take a look at a clip from--gosh, I hope this thing makes some money--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2--and this is absolutely it for the Harry Potter movies. Right?
Watson: Absolutely it.
Letterman: So we can assume--I will infer now--that everyone in the film dies. [Audience laughter] Here it is, Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the [mumbles]--
Watson: Deathly Hallows Part 2!
Letterman: Take a look.
Watson: Great movie, everybody's got to see it!
[Movie clip plays--it's the wrong movie. Music.]
Movie: Mother, not that trick again.
[Movie laughter and music. Clip ends.]
[Audience applause]
Letterman: That's just amazing. That's it. Okay, let's take a look at the clip. Here it is. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
[Movie clip]
Ron: Did you hear that?
Hermione: I can't.
Ron: Yes, you can.
[Music. Clip ends.]
Letterman: Whoa! You know what I'm saying?
[Audience applause]
Letterman: Good to see you have a great summer! Thank you so much.
Watson: Thank you!
Letterman: The lovely Emma Watson! We'll be right back with George Lopez. Thank you very much.
