Emma

E is for Emma – but while I do love and find inspiration in Jane Austen’s book Emma and while the movie with Gwyneth Paltow and Jeremy Northam is great fun, it’s actually two favorite actresses named Emma that I am dedicating my E blog to tonight.

Emma Thompson and Emma Watson are both talented and lovely actresses, but seem like they are just really cool people and I would love to be friends with either one of them. Seriously, wouldn’t they be fun to know? I sure think so.

Emma Thompson is smart, talented and has a wicked sense of humor. See here recent acceptance speech at the Empire Awards as one example.

I absolutely loved her screenplay for Sense and Sensibility and her portrayal of Elinor is spot on. She has a gift for putting so much into just a simple scene, just a look.

In Love Actually when she discovers her husband’s indiscretion, she conveys the devastation that came with her world being rocked by the realization. Heartbreaking.

I’ve really liked to see what she has said about things, like age and beauty. Currently she is a part of a campaign against some of the superficial plastic surgeries with Kate Winslet (another favorite ) and Rachel Weisz. Below is a quote about how she feels about beauty as she has aged that I love.

My appearance has changed a lot over the years, but it has far more to do with how I feel about being a woman. I’ve never thought of myself as vain. When I was at Cambridge, I shaved my head and wore baggy clothes. What I did was to desexualise myself. It was partly to do with the feminism of that time: militant and grungy. That’s all changed now, though I don’t think it is liberating to get your tits out. I don’t hold with that. But I am much more comfortable with being a woman now than I was in my twenties.

Emma Watson also has a lot to say about beauty and modesty and expectations. I think she sets a great role model for young women with her class and style and intelligence. As a child actor she could have been a disappointment as an adult after watching her grow up before our eyes. For her though it has been anything but a disappointment. She’s grown up to be a lovely person and a great talent. Below is a favorite quote of mine from her.

I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing…What’s sexy about saying ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder.

And I absolutely loved this tweet she sent when people kept saying she would star in the movie version of 50
Shades of Grey’. Perfect 😉

Her speech at the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part II makes me cry every time I’ve seen it and the quote below is why I love that she was our Hermione.

Young girls are told you have to be the delicate princess. Hermione told them you can be the warrior.

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