Emma Watson, Who Stars As Belle In Disney's Beauty And The Beast, Shares Her Love Of Books With Children From The NY Film Society For Kids At Lincoln Center's Beale Theater (Photo : Getty Images)
After breaking multiple box office records worldwide with Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," Emma Watson starred in the thriller "The Circle" with Tom Hanks. The film brought to the fore the controversial topic about technology and how it may be interfering with privacy instead of protecting it.
The film, which also stars Tom Hanks, centers on a young woman named Mae Holland (Watson) who works at an Internet corporation called The Circle. There she is assigned to work with the company's newest technology; however, she later learns that her job involves privacy, surveillance and freedom. Conflicted, Mae learns that her decisions and actions will affect the future of humanity.
In an interview with Jessica Chastain for Interview Magazine (via The Hollywood Reporter), Watson shared that being involved in the film and seeing the dangers of technology made her even more cautious about her privacy.
"I set even more boundaries than I had before between my public and my private lives. It made me think a lot about what I would do if I had children," Watson said. Even before the movie, Watson has maintained a very private personal life but has become even more so after the film. She revealed that she deleted her email app from her phone to "create serious boundaries."
Watson also said that while social media is useful and "brings people together," it can be dangerous if used the wrong way. "We need to make sure that we are using technology, and technology is not using us," Watson added.
Watson also addressed the issue of having a system that would better protect people. "Like everything, the internet is an incredibly powerful force that needs governing-not to restrict our freedom, but to protect people," Watson explained.
Meanwhile, the star power of Hanks and Watson was not enough to elevate the box office figures for "The Circle." According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie opened to $9.3 million from 3,163 theaters. This, despite Watson actively promoting the movie on her Twitter account, which has amassed nearly 25 million followers.
Critics drew attention between The Circle and Watson's previous film, "Beauty and the Beast," saying star power is not a guarantee of a movie's success.
