“I’m so glad that I allowed things to be messy for a minute …”

Emma Watson took a step back from Hollywood after starring in the 2019 film Little Women, and she hasn’t looked back since. In a new interview with British Vogue, Watson recalled making the decision to leave the entertainment industry, saying she’s “so glad” she did it.

“I’m just so glad that I did,” she told the publication, adding, “because I have this feeling of having my own voice and creative space and sovereignty in some way that I don’t think I did before — more autonomy.”

But, the star doesn’t have any regrets about taking time to figure out her life and what she wanted to do next. “I’m so glad that I allowed things to be messy for a minute and to really allow myself to not know [what’s next], because the knowing that I’ve come to, I wouldn’t trade that for anything,” she said.

Of course, the actress and activist is most known for playing Hermione Granger in the beloved Harry Potter series, but has also gone on to star in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Despite finding massive success as an actor and doubling as a fashion It girl, Watson wasn’t truly happy at the time.

“I get a front row seat [with] some of the most successful, beautiful, incredible people in the world,” she explained. “And when you have that seat it becomes very, very clear that there is just absolutely no level of success that will make you in any way happy or content if you do not like who you are or enjoy what you’re doing when no one’s watching.”

Now, the activist has taken a turn behind the camera by taking up writing and directing, though, she said the move was initially “terrifying.”

“Because I’m in a career that moves very quickly, the decision to take time to do these things felt like a very big decision,” she said. “[Choosing] to go back and write and study and get behind the camera was terrifying for me because I’d never done it before. I had always been in front of the camera; I’d always been an actor.”