Top 10 Emma Watson Performances

Based on the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah” took a liberal attitude towards its source material, filling in missing details and stretching out the tale. Watson’s character, Shem’s wife Ila, isn’t actually named in Genesis, let alone described, but perhaps that made it easier for her to flesh out the character. With a comprehensive character arc, Watson got to play a lot of emotional beats, all of which she hit expertly. The demanding story, and the multilayered character, allow Watson to show off her wide range of acting skills and talents. Whether you like this movie or not, there’s no question that Watson’s performance is a highlight.

While critics called this historical thriller routine and sentimental, it was despite - and not because of - Watson’s stellar performance. Set in 1973 Chile during the Chilean Military Coup, it follows Watson’s character Lena as she infiltrates the real life Colonia Dignidad cult to rescue her boyfriend Daniel. Her determination and emotional intensity as she tries to find Daniel and escape is captivating in spite of the movie’s shortcomings. As Lena delves deeper and deeper into the cult’s inner workings, Watson’s compelling portrayal pulls audiences down the rabbit hole with her, fully immersing us in the story.

We present to you Emma Watson . . . as Emma Watson. Watson tends to gravitate towards more dramatic roles. But with “This Is the End”, she got to add comedy to her repertoire. During the Rapture, Watson is one of the left behind, alongside Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, and other Team Apator actors. Although she only appears in one short scene, it is hands down the best scene in the whole movie. Hermione hangs up her wand for an axe and, after misunderstanding a VERY weird conversation about her, beats the everloving crap out of everyone and pilfers their resources.

In this animated adventure film, Watson lends her voice to the kind, but lonely Princess Pea. It marks her first and only voice performance to date in an animated movie. Voice acting can be challenging because actors have a significantly reduced toolbox to sell their roles. And even the best actors can be mismatched with characters who doesn’t really fit their voices. But Watson fits Princess Pea perfectly, and convincingly befriends Despereaux on his journey to save the kingdom. Based on this voice performance, we can’t wait to hear more from Watson.

This one gets a little meta, as Watson is a child actor playing a child actor. As Pauline, in “Ballet Shoes”, Watson plays a young orphan who goes to a performing arts school alongside her adoptive sisters, and competes with her classmates for roles in plays. Pauline quickly becomes the standout in the class, and eventually goes on to become a big star of the stage and screen. Watson aces this role, maybe in part, because she can relate to Pauline’s rise to stardom, as well as the same pressures and pitfalls.

Watson usually plays the protagonist in her films, but in “My Week with Marilyn” she’s second fiddle to Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe. Watson has just a few short scenes in this story of a tryst between Marilyn and Colin, an employee on one of her films. But in those scenes, Watson manages to be both fierce, yet sympathetic, after being slighted by Colin when he meets “the girl with the horizontal walk” Marilyn Munroe. We know the story is about Colin and Marilyn, but Watson’s portrayal will have you on Lucy’s side.

This was one of Watson’s first major gigs after Harry Potter, and it was a sharp turn from her usual roles. Admittedly, it was more than a little jarring to see Watson go from the intellectual Hermione Granger to the ditzy and devious Nicki Moore. The characters are pretty much polar opposites, but Watson pulls off the drastic 180 spin effortlessly. As Nicki, she participates in a crime ring, robbing celebrity homes. Hermione would not approve! It can be hard for child actors to distance themselves from the roles that made them famous, but with this one, Watson ensured she’d never be type cast.

It was Watson's first LEADING role after “Harry Potter”, and she totally killed it. She sported an American accent for the first time in a major motion picture, and though there are a handful of spots where you can hear her real accent slipping through, it mostly holds up. As Sam, Watson delivers a moving and inspiring performance that captures the essence of the character in the original novel, while also making the role her own. From Sam’s fun and adventurous side, to her profound and broken inner self, Watson hits each emotional beat with sincerity. She had audiences laughing with her, crying with her, and cheering for her too!

This role involved more than just great acting - we got to see Watson sing and dance too! People seem to be divided on Watson’s singing performance, but in her defence, it was her first musical outing, and she was matched up against some musical theatre giants. Regardless, she completely embodied the role of the bibliophile Belle, and we’d argue she was born to be a Disney Princess. The iconic dance scene between Belle and Beast is everything we’d hoped it would be. We can only imagine how hard it must be to act alongside a dude in a bulky live motion capture suit.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Mae Holland
“The Circle” (2017)

Angela Gray
“Regression” (2015)

Emma Watson was the perfect Hermione Granger. And part of what makes this role so great is that throughout the franchise we not only got to see Hermione grow as a character, we also got to see Emma Watson grow as an actor from childhood to adulthood. One of her best performances in the franchise is in “Prisoner of Azkaban”, where her portrayal of Hermione was much more nuanced while keeping the secret of the time turner. And then there’s her intensity in “Deathly Hallows” Parts One and Two. In particular, the scene where she obliviates her parents is heartbreaking. No one could have played the plucky, brave know it all quite like her.