Emma Watson has been a household name for almost 15 years now. It’s hard to remember a time before the actress played Hermione Granger, notably one of the most beloved characters from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

The young star has come a long way since her days on set at Hogwarts and has evolved right along with her character, who is as fierce as she is compassionate in the upcoming film The Bling Ring. Although Watson has been acting since she was 10, she says it wasn’t until recently that she began feeling like an actual professional.

“It took me a long time to feel like an actor,” Watson told us at a recent press junket for The Bling Ring. “I think I’d always felt like Hermione and I’d always felt that I belonged to Warner Brothers and it took me about five years after we finished filming to feel like an actor.”

Fans will be shocked to learn that in addition to being recognized as one of the world’s most famous Muggle-born witches, Watson was also mistaken for another celebrity on more than one occasion.

“People used to call me Rachel McAdams all the time,” she revealed. “It would happen every day in New York.”

Watson admitted she

Emma Watson is playing Hermione for the last time in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

Watson has been playing Hermione since she was 9 years old.

On her last day of filming, Watson spoke with reporters about parting with such a large part of her life.

“It’s surreal,” she said. “I’m sure it will start to feel more normal as the days go on, but it still feels very surreal.”

Watson said it’s been a relief filming the two-part final movie because for so long, she couldn’t talk about how the story ended.

“It’s just so nice to be able to talk openly about it now,” Watson said. “It’s just been a huge huge relief.”

Emma Watson is a British actress, model, and activist. Born in Paris and brought up in Oxfordshire, Watson attended the Dragon School as a child and trained as an actress at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. She rose to prominence after landing her first professional acting role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series, appearing in all eight Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011. Watson was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays. From 2001 to 2011, she starred in all eight Harry Potter films alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint.

Watson’s work on the Harry Potter series has earned her several accolades, including the Empire Hero Award (2011), the MTV Trailblazer Award (2013) and the Millennium Award (2016). In 2007, Watson announced her involvement in two non-Harry Potter productions; the television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes and an animated film, The Tale of Despereaux. Her work on the latter earned her a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film.

In 2012, Watson announced her involvement in three new film projects; My Week with Marilyn, where she played Lucy, a wardrobe assistant; The Perks of Being a Wall

Back in 2001, when Emma Watson was only 9 years old, she was cast as the brainy and incredibly likable Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. The first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, premiered just a few months after Watson turned 12. Three more movies came out before she hit 16. Then another three as she reached adulthood. And now, after eight movies, the series has finally come to an end with the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

I recently had the chance to sit down with Watson to talk to her about where she sees Hermione ending up in life, what it was like to grow up on set and who she wants to play her in a movie about her life.

Emma Watson has been acting since she was 11 years old. At age 15, she became a household name as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. While Watson was filming the Harry Potter series, she attended school on set and earned top grades. She also graduated from Brown University in 2014.

She is now 22 and has appeared in several films since the end of Harry Potter, including The Perks of Being a Wallflower and This Is the End. Her latest film, Noah, opens in theaters this Friday.

Watson recently spoke with TIME about her upcoming movie, gender inequality and fame.

Did you have to learn anything new for your role in Noah? Yes, I had to become really physically fit because I knew that I would be doing all of my own stunts. I knew that it was going to be really physical so I worked out twice a day for three months before we started shooting and then trained with a stunt team once we got there. It was definitely physically challenging but it was great fun.

Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, has become a bona fide movie star since the franchise ended in 2011. Her latest role is as Belle in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast.

In celebration of the film’s release, Teen Vogue got to chat with Watson about nostalgia, feminism, and Hermione’s hairstyle. Here are the highlights.

Teen Vogue: What do you think it was about the original animated Beauty and the Beast that made it so beloved?

Emma Watson: It was really ahead of its time in many ways. It was one of Disney’s first feminist fairy tales and it also had a heroine who didn’t need to be saved by a prince. I think that’s why it has stuck with people for so long.

TV: What kind of research did you do to get into character?

EW: When I was researching for the role, I spoke to people who knew her well and what struck me was how much she loved her family, how much she loved her father specifically, and how much she loved books and reading. In a way she felt like an old soul even though she was only seventeen at the time.