‘I was scared and lonely!’ Emma Watson and Rupert Grint reveal they nearly QUIT Harry Potter roles

Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have revealed they nearly quit their acting roles in the Harry Potter film franchise due to struggling with being child stars.

The 31-year-old (who played Hermione Grainger) and her 33-year-old co-star (Ron Weasley), make the revelation during the upcoming Harry Potter Reunion special.

They were catapulted to stardom following the success of The Philosopher’s Stone in 2001, before the pair had even reached their teen years.

Admitting to writing about being lonely in a diary entry at the time, the Beauty And The Beast star explained how ‘the fame thing had finally hit home in a big way’.

She confessed: ‘I think I was scared. I don’t know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point where you were like, “This is kind of forever now.”‘ 

‘It was around the time of Order of the Phoenix when things started getting spicy for all of us,’ she continued of the 2007 blockbuster which she filmed aged 16.

Shocking: Emma confessed: ‘I think I was scared. I don’t know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point where you were like, “This is kind of forever now”‘ (pictured in 2001)

Rupert chimed in: ‘I also had sort of similar feelings to Emma, contemplating what life would be like if I called it a day.

‘We never really spoke about it. I guess we were just going through it at our own pace, we were kind of in the moment at the time.

‘It just didn’t really occur to us that we were all probably kind of having similar feelings.’

Reflecting: Later in the special, Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, said: ‘We never talked about it on the film, because we were all just kids’

Backing up their claims, the director of the final four installments, David Yates, revealed he had been warned about Emma’s uncertainty behind-the-scenes.

He said: ‘One thing that David [Heyman] and the studio spoke to me about was Emma is not sure she wants to come back to do another Potter.’

Despite the wobble, she realised that bidding her cast members farewell would have been a mistake and firmly remained in the role.

Emma said: ‘The fans genuinely wanted you to succeed, and we all genuinely have each other’s backs. How great is that?’   

Later in the special, Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, said: ‘We never talked about it on the film, because we were all just kids.

‘As a 14-year-old boy, I was never going to turn around to another 14-year-old and be like, “Hey, how’re you doing? Is everything ok?”‘

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is set to debut on January 1, 2022 on HBO Max as well as on Sky and streaming service NOW in the UK. 

One to watch! Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is set to debut on January 1, 2022 on HBO Max as well as on Sky and streaming service NOW in the UK