Q. Who do you play in Noah?
WATSON: She is the adopted daughter of Noah; she’s a refugee and she’s rescued by Noah’s family. Her family was killed in a battle or a raid, and she kind of suffers these serious wounds to her stomach which means that she can’t bear children. And, she falls in love with Shem (Douglas Booth) who is Noah’s older son. It’s a very dark film, and I think it’s a very youthful, innocent, hopeful love story, which brings a kind of light to the eclectic chaos. So yeah, it’s a really special love story.

Q: What was it like working with Russell Crowe?
WATSON: Amazing. I didn’t think anyone else could have played this role. It needed an actor that you believed physically would be able to build something of the magnitude of the ark, and he was someone who could be both a warrior, and also have complicated internal walls. He just felt very believable to me; he pulled off something that would be very difficult.

Q: Are you still at college or have you finished?
WATSON: Yes, I plan to graduate in May. From Brown.

Q: After This is the End, do you feel like going to some comedies?
WATSON: Yeah, Steve Chbosky, who I did Perks with, and I have put together a comedy together at the moment and it’s something that I think earlier on in the Harry Potter films, that was one of the aspects that I enjoyed the most, was that Hermione was actually very funny. She was actually very unaware of herself and as a result, she was very comical.

I missed that aspect as things got more serious and things got darker throughout the series. I really miss those kinds of scenes between Hermione and Ron where you would really laugh. And I did a play when I was at Brown, I did Chekov, and it was The Three Sisters and it was a really dark comedy and I really enjoyed getting to make people laugh. So yeah, it’s definitely something I want to do.

Q: What was the part that you relate yourself to the character?
WATSON: Just I guess that I am making the same transition that she is. It’s kind of I am at that age where I am deciding what do I want to do, where do I want to live, what kind of person do I want to be, who am I going to choose to love, you are making all of these really big, important life choices. It’s very intense in many ways, I feel like that’s what your early 20s are about, figuring out your place in the world, and that’s what she’s going through. She’s becoming a woman.

I think you have reached that interesting stage with your parents where you might not necessarily agree with everything they believe, and it’s something you are trying to figure out, okay, which parts of my upbringing do I take with me, and how do I have my own independent mind and that conflict is really difficult. It can be very difficult to overcome, and I think very specifically at this age, it’s quite difficult too where you are becoming your own person, but you don’t want to lose your parents, and they don’t want to lose you but they don’t know how to be this new person in your life if they are not this very sort of dogmatic figure, and you are trying to figure it all out.

Q: After growing up with the Harry Potter films, do you feel that you are comfortable on huge scale movies like this?
WATSON: I think it’s useful having had a history of working with special effects, and I feel also just in terms of stamina, (laughs) I know that sounds crazy, but I am used to things taking a long time. I am used to having to do the same thing over and over again in order to be able to get technical things right. I am used to being outside in the freezing cold for hours and hours and hours and being soaking wet and rained on and then having to run and then cry, that kind of stuff.

It’s very comforting for me in many ways, not in terms of performance, but just in terms of like, what it’s day to day, as hard as it has been, I have already done that. And in terms of again, we are about to start promotional stuff on Noah and it can feel quite overwhelming and I have to remind myself, it’s never ever going to be as full on as it was with Harry Potter. So it’s a comfort in a way to know that. If I have done that, I feel like I can do most things, which is nice.

Q: Do you watch yourself on film?
WATSON: You know, it’s funny, I think it was Maggie Smith who, I remember saying to, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I could do it, I don’t know if I could watch myself, it’s so hard.’ And she basically just told me to get a grip. (laughter) Because ultimately, what I do is an art, but to a certain extent, it’s also a science, it’s also something that I need to get better at. It’s something that I keep learning at and if I don’t watch what I do, how can I get better? How can I see what I did wrong in order to know how to do it better the next time? So I try to be objective, I try to tell myself that I do it in order to keep getting better each time, and of course it’s difficult, but you just kind of got to do it.