Emma Watson has played the character of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series for about half of her life, beginning in 2000 when she was just 10 years old. Now that the filming is over (the last movie wrapped in June of 2010), Emma is well on her way toward her future as just Emma, already having completed her first year at Brown University. The December issue of Marie Claire magazine features Emma, 20, on the cover and a feature article that lets us in on Emma's strong drive, her understated but elegant style, and just how much she's like Hermione.
While Emma wasn't born in the business, as they say, Emma's rise in the public eye in some form was almost inevitable with her south node in the sign of Leo (creativity and performance) and in the 11th house (the public arena). With her north node in Aquarius in the 5th house, she's working on being able to separate the drama and image of her public persona and her true source of individuality and creativity, which is not necessarily about how she can be popular, well-liked, or cater to her fans, but her own process of finding herself. Her Aries Sun in the 8th house will be a perfect vehicle for that, as she dives deep into herself in this life to find her own strength, courage, and independence--not to mention a relentless energy to pursue her desires.
Mlle. Kiddie just loves that this youngster was born in Paris, and that she's such an elegant example of her Virgo Ascendant. While Virgo often gets categorized as frumpy, fussy, and utilitarian, Miss Watson displays the elegance and simplicity of the Virgoan refinement. Our Ascendant/Rising Sign shows how we present ourselves to the world, which not only includes our attitude and approach to the world, but often our sense of style as well, since we want to dress ourselves in a way that makes our natural approach to the world like a second skin to us. That Virgo style brings an understated sophistication and Virgo, being a more contained sign, knows that sexiness doesn't have to mean being revealing or over-eager, as Emma herself reveals in the Marie Claire interview:"I think it's so much sexier to be understated. It's more intriguing to be sexy in a less obvious way."
Fashion and our sense of style is not just our Ascendant, but is also contributed to by Venus' placement in our chart. In Emma's chart, it's in the dreamy sign of Pisces, which adds a sort of romantic flair to that elegant Virgo, and for Emma, with her Uranus (the planet of the pursuit of individuality) in close harmony with her Venus, she is likely to find her expression through fashion a great way to show her true self, and says something to that effect in the article. She also reveals the Piscean part of her sense of fashion when she quotes Jean Cocteau:
"I think fashion is a great way to express yourself. I read a great quote by Jean Cocteau: 'Style is a simple way of saying complicated [Virgo] things.' It's fun. It's escapist [Pisces]. It can change the way you think or feel. As an actress, just wearing something helps me get into character." (bracket statements added)Mlle. Kiddie wonders if you can you get more perfect symbolism than that last line! In the 6th house of work (an actress), she finds that her style of clothing (Venus) helps her get into character (Pisces).
Emma's goals are now firmly rooted in her education, something Mlle. Kiddie would applaud anyway, but is especially significant for Emma since her Mercury (the mind) is exactly square her nodes and represents something that should be developed -- which no doubt could be easily skipped since she does not seem to need higher education to make a living if developing her mind weren't such an important part of her soul's development. Her Sagittarius Moon will also love to be educated and the fact that she's experiencing her education in a land far from her birth is also a love of Sagittarius. Her Mercury in Taurus in the 8th house brings a mental tenacity as well, which shows in her success in her studies. Mercury is also the ruler of her chart because it's the planet that rules (has an affinity with) her Ascendant, Virgo. This makes it doubly important.
That mental tenacity served her well when she auditioned for the role of Hermione. At 9 years old, she practiced relentlessly to get the audition just right:
"I started working on the audition at 9 in the morning and didn't stop until 5 in the evening. The tape was just me doing the same thing hundreds of times over, until I got it exactly right [Virgo]. I was just amazed at my stamina [Taurus]. I've always been like that; I give 100 percent. I can't do it any other way."Post Harry Potter, in addition to her studies at Brown, she's collaborating in creating the Spring/Summer clothing line for People Tree, a sustainable and Fair Trade brand of clothing. "80% of the collection uses 100% organic and Fair-trade certified cotton and it is also made entirely by Fair Trade groups, using hand weaving, hand knitting, and hand embroidery, to create livelihoods for some of the most disadvantaged people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal." Sounds like she's growing into her Jupiter in Cancer in the 10th house, taking a public role (10th house) in nurturing (Cancer) others by providing them opportunities (Jupiter). This is a young lady to watch and admire!
Marie Claire Photo Credit: Tesh