Emma Watson has described herself as "self-partnered" and explained what the term means.
The 35-year-old Hollywood star became a global name at just 10 years old when she was cast as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Her Hollywood career flourished with acclaimed performances in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Little Women, but since her last onscreen role in 2018, she has shifted her focus to creative projects like directing a Prada short film and launching a gin brand with her brother, Alex.
Despite her public profile, Watson has always been fiercely private about her personal life. That changed in 2019, when in a cover story with British Vogue, she coined a phrase that went viral: “self-partnered.”
At the time, Watson said: “I never believed the whole ‘I’m happy single’ spiel. I was like, ‘This is totally spiel.’ It took me a long time, but I’m very happy [to be single]. I call it being self-partnered.”
What Watson really meant by ‘self-partnered’
Watson has since explained that the term wasn’t about celebrating singleness for its own sake.
In an interview, she said: “Getting to the point when I was 30, I was realising: ‘Oh. Maybe I’ve figured out some things about how to care for myself better - maybe quite well, actually.’ And taking pride in that.”
She emphasized that independence doesn’t exclude connection: “Coming out of Covid, I really understood the importance of building community, having community and investing, very intentionally, time and energy into that.”
In Teen Vogue, Watson clarified that the phrase was her way of naming the “sudden anxiety and pressure” she felt approaching her 30s.
“In the run-up to my 30s, [I felt] this incredible, sudden anxiety and pressure that I had to be married or have a baby or [be] moving into a house. There was no word for this… so I used the word self-partnered," she added.
Marriage, pressure, and what she wants in a partner
The Oxford student opened up further in a recent conversation with author Jay Shetty, saying that if she’d married before last year, “it would’ve been carnage.”
“I’m just so happy not to be divorced yet,” she admitted. “That sounds like a really negative answer, but I think we’re being pressured and forced into this thing that I believe is a kind of miracle. I might never be worthy of it. I hope it happens to me, but I don’t feel entitled to it.”
She described traditional timelines as “the least romantic thing I can think of,” and shared her hopes for an ideal relationship: “I really want to be with someone I can learn from and I hope has the humility to be able to learn from me."
"I guess my big hope or wish would be that I met someone who feels that what I’m here to do in the world is important to them too," she concluded.
On her strained bond with J.K. Rowling
Watson also addressed her relationship with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, whose divisive comments on gender identity have created a rift with the film cast.
Rowling previously suggested she would “never forgive” Watson for her public stance in support of trans rights.
Speaking on Shetty’s podcast, the Beauty and the Beast actress said: “I will never believe that one negates the other, and that my experience of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish."
"I think it’s my deepest wish that I hope people who don’t agree with my opinion will love me, and I hope I can keep loving people who I don’t necessarily share the same opinion with.”
She added that what upset her most was the lack of real dialogue: “I just don’t think these things are either or… I truly and completely believe in that.”