MOVIE MAGIC: How has your life changed since you starred in the two Harry Potter films? EMMA WATSON: Well, I think most of the change happened after the first film, when I occasionally got recognized. On the second one, [the public's reaction] kind of became a bit more noticeable. It became a bit more frequent, but apart from that, it's been basically the same. MOVIE MAGIC: How do your friends treat you now that you are a star? EMMA: My friends haven't been treating me differently, and most other people are really nice about it. You get the odd kid who's a bit annoyed, who'll go past you in the hallways and go, "Oooh, it's Hermione." But that's kind of what you expect, really. MOVIE MAGIC: How has your character changed? EMMA: Well, I think it's not just Hermione - I think all of the characters have matured. Hermione has become a bit more laid back and she's not so mothering to Harry and Ron. And she finally has a bit of a different hairstyle, which is kind of nice.

MOVIE MAGIC: How is Hermione like you and unlike you? EMMA: Hermione sounds like me and behaves like me. She's self-assured, irritating, emotional and loyal. Playing her doesn't involve an awful lot of acting. She's a total bookworm and will do anything to get top marks. I mean, I enjoy school, but I'm not obsessed with school. Um... I hope I have a better fashion sense than she does!

MOVIE MAGIC: Was it fun working with the animals in the movie? EMMA: I really love animals and I really enjoy working with them. It can be quite hard work; it's pretty hard to tell a dog, you know, "Do it again, you weren't siting in the right position" or something.

MOVIE MAGIC: What was the best and worst part about working with the animals? EMMA: You have to be quite patient with them, you know, because Fang drools everywhere and it takes ages to get it off your robes. And Hedwig flies in the wrong direction, like that. But they're gorgeous; they're really cute. You don't expect an animal to do that kind of stuff, so it's amazing when they do. But most of the time they get it right, which is absolutely amazing. Their trainers must have the hardest job ever.

MOVIE MAGIC: What was it like to work with Kenneth Branagh? EMMA: He is the nicest guy - he could not be a nicer guy. He is absolutely fantastic. He's really down-to-earth, really friendly. He's got a great sense of humor and I really, really like working with him. He's a fantastic actor as well. There's such a presence about him, which really goes with Gilderoy Lockhart. You can always tell when he walks into a room by the way he sort of shrugs his shoulders. He's actually hilarious. He plays it really well, and I thought he was fantastic. There's one scene I have with him - half of it I'm looking dreamily in love and the rest of it I'm fighting pixies off, which is really fun.

MOVIE MAGIC: You get turned into a cat - how did they do it? EMMA: It's all magic. I'm sorry, I can't give anything away. I can't give away any secrets.

MOVIE MAGIC: What's the funniest thing that happened on the set of Chamber of Secrets? EMMA: Imagine 300 extras in the same room for the whole week, the food is stinking, it's boiling and everyone is dying of boredom, okay? So imagine that, and we need to get them all to laugh, and we did so many takes. It got so bad that Dan and Robbie Coltrane had to stand up on the tables and dance. And they did the Macarena, they did the Can-Can - everything - and it worked, it worked. It was the highlight of the whole filming, I think. I never laughed so much in my life.

MOVIE MAGIC: Do you think it's important for kids to read? EMMA: It's important to read, because as you read you pick up on your words. It's really good for your English and I love it. It's very relaxing and you can kind of lose yourself. It's really good for your imagination.

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