Emma Watson Has a New Term for Being Single: 'I Call It Self-Partnered'
The world watched Emma Watson grow up on screen as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter, and soon she’ll be seen on screen as another iconic literary character: Meg March in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel Little Women. It’s a role that’s very fitting for where Watson is at in her life right now: a woman about to turn 30 who’s developed a successful career on her own terms.
And in a new interview with British Vogue, Watson opened up about how this milestone birthday. It appears she’s feeling a little on edge, in part because she “had all these ideas” about what goals she might have accomplished by 30. “I was like, ‘Why does everyone make such a big fuss about turning 30? This is not a big deal…’” she tells the magazine. “Cut to 29, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I feel so stressed and anxious. And I realize it’s because there is suddenly this bloody influx of subliminal messaging around. If you have not built a home, if you do not have a husband, if you do not have a baby, and you are turning 30, and you’re not in some incredibly secure, stable place in your career, or you’re still figuring things out… There’s just this incredible amount of anxiety.”
The actor also opened up about her relationship status—and her anxiety around it. She’s even using a new term to describe being single. “I never believed the whole ‘I’m happy single’ spiel,” she says. “I was like, ‘This is totally spiel.’ It took me a long time, but I’m very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered.”
Self-partnered. It’s an apt term for an activist like Watson, who says her favorite part about her Little Women experience was filming with women like Streep and Dern. “What was really nice about working with Laura Dern and Meryl Streep was that the three of us knew each other way before we did Little Women,” she tells British Vogue. “We met in activist spaces, so we had this allyship and solidarity as activists that had been part of a certain movement before we ever worked together.”
While many parts of Watson’s life are quite different than most of ours, the feeling she describes about turning 30 and her relationship status is so relatable. Kudos to Watson for opening up about her feelings, and a serious slow-clap for my new favorite term: self-partnered.