Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame has been ordered to stay off the wheel. The actress has been temporarily banned from driving as a result of a 2024 speeding incident.
The Harry Potter alum was ordered not to drive for six months on Wednesday, nearly a year after a camera caught her going 38 mph in a 30 mph zone in Oxford, England, reports People magazine.
Interestingly, another Harry Potter actor - Zoë Wanamaker who has essayed the role of Madam Hooch in the first film was also banned on the same day. The 76-year-old was driving at a speed of 46mph in a 40mph zone on the M4 in Newbury on August 7, 2024. She was fined fined £1,044 and also received a six-month driving ban
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The verdict was taken in the same court as Emma Watson's.
While Wanamaker's lawyer Duncan Jones told the court that she was not acting starry and respected the traffic rules, the District Judge Arvind Sharma begged to differ. The judge confirmed the disqualifications in both Emma Watson and Zoë Wanamaker cases.
Watson is most widely known for her starring role as Hermione Granger in all eight Harry Potter films, beginning in 2001 and ending in 2011.
As per People, the actress has taken a step back from the spotlight in recent years, even enrolling in a master's program in creative writing at Oxford University in September 2024.
In a December 2023 interview with British Vogue, Watson said she was "so glad that I (took a break from acting) because I have this feeling of having my own voice and creative space and sovereignty in some way that I don't think I did before — more autonomy”.
“I'm so glad that I allowed things to be messy for a minute and to really allow myself to not know (what's next), because the knowing that I've come to, I wouldn't trade that for anything,” she added.
Watson's most recent rare public appearances came on February 14, when she attended the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game in Oakland, California, and later at the Cannes Film Festival in May. A source said that the Little Women actress was "very low-key" during the night out at the basketball game in February, and seemed "excited to be there”.
Pursuits in recent years for Watson have included continuing her education at Oxford after earning a degree in English Literature from Brown University in 2014. She also made her directorial debut with the Prada Paradoxe campaign in 2022.
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