Emma Watson says her ‘shame’ was ‘everywhere’ after driving ban

By Lauren Del Fabbro, PA Entertainment Reporter

Harry Potter star Emma Watson has said her “shame” was “everywhere” after she received a driving ban for speeding.

The actress, 35, best known for playing Hermione Granger in the film franchise, was banned from driving for six months in July and had to pay a total of £1,044 after driving her blue Audi at 38mph in a 30mph zone in Oxford on July 31 2024.

Watson, who has been studying at the University of Oxford, had nine points on her licence before the speeding incident occurred.

Speaking on the On Purpose podcast with Jay Shetty about the ban, which made headlines at the time, Watson said: “I was getting phone calls, like it’s on the BBC. It’s on international, worldwide news.

“I was like, my shame is everywhere.”

Watson revealed she received messages from people who sympathised with the actress and shared their own driving mishaps with the star.

She added: “When you work on movies, I don’t know if people know this, but they literally will not insure you to drive yourself to work. I’ve asked so many times.

“You have to be driven, it’s not a choice. Especially because they need you there, down to the minute basically depending on what they have going on.

“So I went from basically only driving myself on weekends or during a holiday, to then, when I became a student, driving myself all the time and I did not have the experience, or skills clearly, which I now will and do.

“It’s been a discovery and a journey that’s been humbling because on a movie set, I’m able to do all of these like extremely complex things, stunt, sing, dance, like do this thing, do that, whatever. And I’m like, ‘Yep, don’t worry about it, guys’.

“And then I get home and I’m like, ‘OK Emma, you seem unable to remember your keys. You seem unable to keep yourself at 30mph in a 30mph speed limit. Like you don’t seem able to do some pretty basic life things’.

“It’s been humbling.”

The actress and activist, who was made a UN women’s goodwill ambassador in 2014, has starred in a slew of films, including the 2017 Disney live-action remake of Beauty And The Beast, Sofia Coppola-directed movie The Bling Ring in 2014 and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower in 2012.

She also starred in the Greta Gerwig’s 2019 movie Little Women, in which she played Meg March.