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Emma Watson Breaks Free Of Typecasting In Tom Hanks Sci-Fi Film ‘The Circle’

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 02:20 PST, Mar 3, 2017

Emma Watson is famous for playing the character of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film franchise. Watson was cast in the role that would make her world famous when was ten-years-old, and the English actress starred in all eight Harry Potter films that were produced between 2001 and 2011.

Like many of the actors who featured in the Harry Potter franchise, Emma Watson has tried to reinvent herself by detaching herself from her famous on-screen persona of Hermione Granger. But the actress has revealed that she has found it difficult to shrug off her popular image, and she has grown to accept that Hermione is an integral part of her, despite the fact that their personalities are entirely different.

Even though she has worked in non-fantasy movies like My Week with Marilyn, Your Voice in My Head, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Emma Watson continues to be largely perceived as an actress who is suitable to play the lead characters in fantasy films. Apart from acting in the Harry Potter films, the actress has also acted in films like Queen of Tearling and The Tale of Despereaux.

Disney, too, has capitalized on the Harry Potter star’s public image, casting Watson in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, in which Watson plays the lead female role of Belle.

Now, Emma Watson might finally be breaking away from her “lead female in a fantasy movie” typecasting. The second trailer for the upcoming science fiction film, The Circle, has been released, and according to the A.V. Club, Emma Watson plays Mae, a women enveloped into The Circle, the fictional social media company that is shown to be the most powerful social media platform in the world. The Circle’s founder, played by Tom Hanks, believes that human beings can be perfect, and his company can end all diseases and world hunger. Sound familiar?

Watch the trailer here.

Mae’s excitement over finding her dream job is short-lived when she discovers that the technology company has ulterior motives behind its operations, aiming to use its technologies to establish a surveillance society. Tom Hanks’s character encourages people to make use of technology to enable their lives to be followed by the public in a transparent way.

According to the Huffington Post, Hanks’s character in The Circle is reminiscent of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, whose social media platform has revolutionized society by enabling people to effortlessly connect to each other in real time on the internet.

Social media is rampant in today’s society, and Emma Watson’s Mae comes to realize the potential harms of surveillance after initially working to promote public transparency. It is speculated that the film will be a thought-provoking one and will prompt audiences to question the use of technology to invade the privacy of an individual.

The filmmakers have relied on Emma Watson and Tom Hanks’s previous roles in their respective careers while casting them in The Circle. According to USA Today, James Posnoldt revealed that the leading cast‘s performances would not disappoint.

“Audiences bring so much much experience as filmgoers with these actors from other roles, Tom instantly brings a level of humanity and sincerity. Their scenes together are pretty great.”

Slash Film revealed that are other prominent actors, including John Boyega, Bill Paxton, Glenne Headly, Ellar Coltrane, Karen Gillan, and Patton Oswalt will be featuring along with Emma Watson and Hanks in The Circle.

John Boyega will play the role of Kaden, one of the key figures of the company who is well aware the dangers of the intrusive system that Mae is working on, and as the A.V. Club noted, “not unlike his Stormtrooper-who-makes-good Star Wars character, might have a change of heart regarding his employer’s mission.”

[Featured Image by Joel Ryan/AP Images]

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