Emma Watson: Books opened up a new chapter in relationship with my father

Emma Watson has spoken emotionally about her relationship with her father, and how they stayed connected through their shared love of books.

The actress, 26, was five when her lawyer parents Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson separated.

The actress and her younger brother Alex moved from Paris to Oxfordshire with their mother and she saw her father only at weekends, at his home in London.

Watson, who played studious Hermione in the Harry Potter films, told Vanity Fair reading was “sacred” because it was integral to her relationship with her father, who went on to remarry and have three more children.

She also spoke about how she had started to refuse to pose for fan photographs when she was out and about, because it was “the difference between being able to have a life and not”.

In an emotional interview she said: “Books gave me a way to connect with my father. Some of my most precious and treasured moments ... I just remember him reading to me before bed and how he used to do all the different voices. I grew up on film sets, and books were my connection to the outside world.

“They were my connection to my friends back at school because if I was reading what they were reading we’d have something in common.

“Later in life, they became an escape, a means of empowerment, a friend I could rely on.”

Inspired by London organisation Books on the Underground, Watson turned “ninja” to hide books on the New York subway and the Tube to encourage commuters to read.

But the actress and women’s rights campaigner has recently found the courage to say no to selfie-seeking fans. “For me, it’s the difference between being able to have a life and not,” she said.

“If someone takes a photograph of me and posts it, within two seconds they’ve created a marker of exactly where I am within 10 metres. They can see what I’m wearing and who I’m with. I just can’t give that tracking data.”

She is soon to be seen on screens as Belle in a live-action version of Beauty And The Beast. She said: “I couldn’t care less if I won an Oscar or not if the movie didn’t say something that I felt was important for people to hear.”

Read the full interview in the March issue of Vanity Fair.