You think Emma Watson won the coveted role of Harry Potter’s pal Hermione Granger just because of her talent and beauty?

Actually, it turns out magic was always in her blood – the British actress can trace her roots back to a real-life woman accused of witchcraft in the 16th century.

According to genealogist Anastasia Tyler of Ancestry.com, the 19-year-old actress is a distant relative of Joan Playle of Essex County, England, who was convicted of witchcraft in 1592 and excommunicated from the Church of England.

So that’s why the public finds Watson so enchanting …

“It’s not every day we’re able to trace the branches of a family tree back to 16th-century witch trials,” Tyler says. “Combine that with a celebrity connection to Emma Watson and the fact that she plays a witch in Harry Potter: You couldn’t script it any better.”

Most of Watson’s cast mates don’t have as storied a lineage – Daniel Radcliffe is descended from bakers, grocers and plumbers, and Rupert Grint includes a gunsmith among his forebears. Helena Bonham Carter, who plays villainous Bellatrix Lestrange, however, is of noble birth, and her great-grandfather, Herbert Henry Asquith, Earl of Oxford and Asquith, served as prime minister of the U.K. from 1908 to 1916.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Rupert Grint got so drunk at the premiere of ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ he got into the wrong car the next day.

The 20-year-old actor – who plays Harry’s sidekick Ron Weasley in the boy wizard films – was already anticipating a “big night” when he walked the red carpet in the pouring rain at London’s Leicester Square on Tuesday.

He said: “It’s great to be here. Premieres are always a lot of fun. Always a really big night – if you know what I mean!”

After the event, Rupert and his co-stars Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe let their hair down at the after-party.

The next morning, Rupert seemed worse for wear, stumbling out of the exclusive Claridge’s Mayfair hotel looking as though he might be sick at any moment.

The bleary-eyed star was so dazed he got into the wrong car, sitting there for around a minute before he realized his mistake.

The night before, Rupert bragged about his drunken antics at the premiere.

He laughed: “When I’m drunk I like to cause mischief. I’ll steal props like the broomsticks from the ‘Harry Potter’ set and bring them out to the pub for comedy value. It seems funny at the time. Trouble is I usually get too trashed to remember what happened the next day.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Emma Watson rocked two drastically different looks as she appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman in New York City, NY on July 8, 2009.

Fame

Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, has admitted having a crush on his co-star Emma Watson.

The multi-millionaire actor called the 19-year-old actress, who plays Hermione Granger, “a pretty girl” and said she was “popular with the cast”.

In an interview with FHM, he hinted that both he and Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter, had tried to win favor with Granger, but declined to comment on which of the two was more enamored with her.

Mr Grint said: “A lot of people think there’s something going on [between me and Emma Watson] because I have to kiss her on film soon.”

He added: “I’ll be honest with you: it’s not something I’d say I’m dreading. Emma’s a pretty girl. Have Daniel or I ever hit on Emma? Well, she’s quite popular with the cast. As for who has the worst crush on her – me or Radcliffe – I’d rather not say.”

But Grint recently told the Mail on Sunday that his on-screen kiss with Miss Watson in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince had ween a “weird” experience.

“We’ve known each other for 10 years so it was a bit like kissing my sister,” he said.

The 20-year-old, who suffers from severe arachnophobia, also spoke about the more “terrifying” aspects of fame.

“It’s taken me years to get used to being recognized in the street,” he said.

The most terrifying [thing] was when I saw a picture in a newspaper of a book-burning in America’s Bible Belt. And there was a picture of my face smoldering on top of the pyre because they thought the Harry Potter films were endorsing witchcraft. That was when it hit me how big this thing had become.”

But book burnings aside, international celebrity isn’t without its perks. Grint earns £4m a film and has already left his handprints alongside Al Pacino’s outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. “There was a moment where I remember thinking, ‘I have no idea what I’m going to do with all this money,’” he said.

Despite his growing riches, Grint hasn’t adopted the typical celebrity lifestyle. Instead of the usual fleet of fast cars, he drives a dilapidated pickup truck, a working ice-cream van and a 60mph hovercraft.

Speaking about how his personal life has been affected by his fame, he admitted: “I know I could use my fame to meet women and I definitely notice a lot more attention when I go out because of it. But I’m still a bit careful. I don’t want to meet a girl who’s specifically trying to take advantage of that. And I try not to Google myself because I’d find the results too uncomfortable.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

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Emma Watson is blasting reports that she’s set to split up from her long-term boyfriend.

She has been dating financier, Jay Barrymore, who is 25, but they have recently been dogged by rumors that their relationship is about over.

She says, “The only reason it’s ‘on/off’ is because the papers make up so much rubbish!”

And there you have it!

Source, Bauer-Griffin

According to insiders on the set, Emma Watson is straying into diva territory.  A production staffer whose been on numerous Harry Potter sets says 19-year old Emma is ‘testy’ to work with and she’s only getting worse.  The word from the Welsh set of “The Deathly Hallows” is that she’s “being more of a pain than usual”.

Conversely the rest of the cast is said to be an unfettered joy to work with ” They’re a dream to work with, but Emma is even more moody than usual. She’s always complaining, showing up late and has upset both cast and crew members with her rudeness. She’s become a diva and everyone’s sick of it!”

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Photo: Bauer-Griffin