Emma Watson reacts to headlines sexualising her: 'It's deeply irritating'

Even her most anodyne love scenes can be blown out of proportion, and it has not gone unnoticed by the actress

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Emma Watson is well accustomed to seeing almost every artistic effort brought back to Harry Potter in some way, either by direct comparison or through suggestions of how much she has veered away from the franchise that propelled her to fame.

Her 90-minute discussion with feminist giant Gloria Steinheim was reduced by some to a comment on her eyebrows and dip dyes, until her disclosure that she visits a site [OMGYes] which uses research to gain a better of understanding of female sexuality was unearthed, sparking a flurry of Watson visiting “explicit sex website” headlines.

Any suggestion that she is a sexual being never fails to elicit an overblown response.

More recently, the trailer for her forthcoming political thriller Colonia evoked the headline: "Emma Watson indulges in passionate display with Daniel Brühl as they roll around on the bed” and an opening paragraph suggesting Watson is “going far to prove she's not the goody-two shoes Harry Potter character Hermione Granger anymore”.

Headlines paying a disproportionate amount of attention to her love scenes were brought to Watson's attention during an interview with The Times, where she admitted they have not gone unnoticed.

"Yes, three and half seconds of nude pictures which were not particularly risqué," she said. "It’s deeply irritating.”

“I’m 26 now," she added. "I’ve been in 15 films in total and me kissing somebody else shouldn’t be risqué or horrifying, but I think that will continue for a long time. There have been lots of advantages to being part of that franchise [Harry Potter], and playing that role for a long time, but inevitably there are obstacles and that’s one of them.”