Movies Harry Potter stars look back on when Emma Watson considered leaving franchise Watson remembers feeling lonely and how "the fame thing had finally hit home in a big way." By Nick Romano Nick Romano Nick is an entertainment journalist based in New York, NY. If you like pugs and the occasional blurry photo of an action figure, follow him on Twitter @NickARomano. EW's editorial guidelines Published on January 1, 2022 03:01AM EST 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. It's something the actress spoke about previously in interviews with Vanity Fair, Glamour magazine, and other media outlets. "People definitely forget what she took on and how gracefully she did it," says Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy opposite Watson's Hermione Granger. "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 in 'Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts'. Nick Wall 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." "I did find a diary entry that was kind of like…" Watson says, adding a sympathetic whimper. "I could see that at times I was lonely." Later in the special, she mentions, "The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way." Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe on 'Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts'. HBO Max "We never talked about it on the film because we were all just kids," Radcliffe recollects. "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 til the end. "The fans genuinely wanted me to succeed and all genuinely have each other's backs," she says. "How great is that?" Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is currently streaming on HBO Max. Related content: Everything we know about Harry Potter special Return to Hogwarts Harry Potter stars get emotional over reunion in Return to Hogwarts trailer: 'We're family' See Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint reunite for Harry Potter anniversary special Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.