Emma Watson and Another ‘Harry Potter’ Star Banned from Driving

Emma Watson has been banned from driving in the U.K. for six months after she was caught speeding. The “Harry Potter” star was ordered by a judge at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court to stay off the road and pay a fine of £1,044 (about $1,400). This happened on a Wednesday hearing that lasted only five minutes, and Watson did not attend.

The speeding happened almost a year earlier, on July 31, 2024, when Watson was caught driving 38 mph in a 30 mph zone in Oxford, England. Before this, Watson already had nine points on her driver’s license, which made the punishment stricter.

But Watson isn’t the only “Harry Potter” actor dealing with a driving ban. Zoe Wanamaker, who played Madame Hooch in the first “Harry Potter” movie, was also fined and banned from driving on the same day and at the same courthouse.

Wanamaker was caught speeding at 46 mph in a 40 mph zone on August 7, 2024. Like Watson, Wanamaker had nine points on her license already, so she was fined the same amount and banned for six months.

Watson and Wanamaker shared the screen only once in the “Harry Potter” series. Watson played Hermione Granger throughout the entire movie saga, alongside Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. The series finished back in 2011.

In recent years, Watson has stepped away from acting a bit. Her last big role was as Meg March in the 2019 remake of “Little Women,” directed by Greta Gerwig. She also appeared in the 2022 special “Return to Hogwarts,” which celebrated 20 years of the “Harry Potter” films. Watson is currently working on a master’s degree in creative writing at Oxford University.

In a 2023 interview with the Financial Times, Watson spoke about why she took a break from acting. “I wasn’t very happy, if I’m being honest. I think I felt a bit caged. The thing I found really hard was that I had to go out and sell something that I really didn’t have very much control over,”

she said. She added that she still loves acting but wants to do it in a way that feels right to her. “I love what I do. It’s finding a way to do it where I don’t have to fracture myself into different faces and people. And I just don’t want to switch into robot mode anymore.”

This news about Watson and Wanamaker’s driving ban was first reported by BBC.

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