In a new interview with Variety, Chris Columbus reminisced about the work ethics of actress Emma Watson, whom he directed in the first two Harry Potter films over ten years ago, Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, and also had a partial hand in her casting as Hermione Granger. The feature is part of Variety's "Youth Impact Report 2011," this time focusing on screen kids.

"From the very first screen test, she was the one person everyone -- the studio, the producers -- agreed was Hermione. There really wasn't any discussion," says Chris Columbus.

"She seemed to carry with her a sense of professionalism, almost as if she'd been doing it for several years," Columbus recalls. "She had a maturity about her that gave her an ease as an actress."

"Over the last few films, she really had that level of adolescent complexity -- where a lot of your emotions are bubbling to the surface," he says. "That's going to be a wonderful transitional thing to carry over to '[The Perks of Being a Wallflower].'"