Harry Potter stars recall the time when Emma Watson considered leaving the franchise - "The fame thing had hit"

English actress and activist Emma Watson and some of her Harry Potter costars opened up during the 20th anniversary reunion special about a stressful moment in her career, the time she considered leaving the franchise.

Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy alongside Watson's Hermione Granger, said, "People definitely forget what she took on and how gracefully she did it. Dan [Radcliffe] and Rupert [Grint], they had each other. I had my cronies, whereas Emma was not only younger, she was by herself."

Emma Watson was 10 years old when she was cast as book-smart Hermione, often called the brightest witch of her age, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Radcliffe and Grint were both 11 when they landed the parts of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Director David Yates said that when he came on to helm the remainder of the Harry Potter films starting with 2007's Order of the Phoenix, producer David Heyman and Warner Bros. told him "Emma is not sure she wants to come back to do another Potter."

In Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, she mentioned, "I did find a diary entry that was kind of like…" Watson said. "I could see that at times I was lonely." Later in the special, she mentioned, "The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way."

"We never talked about it on the film because we were all just kids," Radcliffe recollected. "As a 14-year-old boy, I was never gonna turn around to another 14-year-old and be like, 'Hey, how are you doing? Is everything okay?'" It turns out, though, that all three of the lead actors were having shared feelings but never addressing it with each other. "I had similar feelings to Emma, contemplating what life would be like if I called it a day," Grint admits.

According to Watson, no one had to convince her to stick with the franchise till the end. "The fans genuinely wanted me to succeed and all genuinely have each other's backs," she says.

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is currently streaming on Amazing Prime Video India.

Also Read: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint get emotional returning to Hogwarts in Harry Potter 20th anniversary reunion, watch trailer