MuggleNet Throwback: Emma Watson ventures outside of “Potter”

Everyone has to grow up and fly the nest at some point, even the now grown actors of Harry Potter. Already four years ago this week, Emma Watson took her first significant step outside her illustrious Potter career when Variety reported that the Hermione Granger actress was under consideration for the lead female role in an edgy, hip film adaptation of Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Watson went on to land the film’s coveted role of struggling high school senior Sam, a part Watson claimed in an Entertainment Weekly interview liberated her from her Potter roots:

I started as Emma with some Hermione still left in my system. I went through the tunnel, and I came out ready to start something new.

The scene Watson refers to in particular in which her character stands up in the bed of a truck while driving through a tunnel with music on full blast went on to become one of the film’s most wildly iconic scenes. Perks itself become a hugely successful film, not just for Watson but also for everyone else involved. The movie is based on Stephen Chbosky’s 1999 novel about Charlie (played in the film by Logan Lerman), a teenager coming to terms with life, love, and himself. Chbosky also wrote and directed the film, which grossed more than $17 million domestically.

Watson has come a long way since her role as Harry Potter’s bookish best friend, arguably the most successful between her and lead Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. Fresh off the release of her most current hit Noah, Watson has begun filming her latest movie, Regression, in Toronto. She also recently made some very intriguing comments regarding the possibility of making a cameo appearance in the highly anticipated Fantastic Beasts adaptation. Check out what Watson had to say about both films, and let us know: Would you be up for a Hermione Granger cameo in the not-too distant future? If not, what do you hope to see Watson do next?