World premiere of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002

Emma Watson Responds To Emma Roberts Mix-Up: ‘I Was NOT This Cute’

Home / Stars / Emma Watson Responds To Emma Roberts Mix-Up: ‘I Was NOT This Cute’

By Kristin Myers on January 6, 2022 at 8:14 AM EST

Actress Emma Watson is finally responding to the most controversial mix-up in the “Harry Potter” reunion special.

The “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” special finally debuted on New Year’s Day. Although many fans were struck by the many startling revelations revealed by the cast and crew, eagle-eyed fans couldn’t help but notice a cute photo of a very young Emma Watson seated at a kitchen table wearing Minnie Mouse ears.

The problem? That wasn’t Emma Watson.

Instead, it was a photo that was posted to Instagram by “American Horror Story” actress Emma Roberts on February 8, 2012. Although Roberts has yet to comment on the mix-up, Watson finally took to Instagram to confess the truth.

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Emma Watson: ‘I Was NOT This Cute’

Young Emma Roberts
Instagram / emmaroberts

On Wednesday, the “Beauty and the Beast” actress shared Emma Roberts’ childhood photo to her Instagram account. She tagged Roberts in the post after joking, “I was NOT this cute,” along with a laughing face emoji. She finished the post with the hashtag #emmasistersforever.

“The emmaverse is real,” one fan commented.

“For anyone wondering they used Emma Roberts’ picture by accident in the Harry Potter reunion,” another fan explained.

“My goodness this was so hilarious,” another joked.

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Emma Roberts at 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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HBO Max, who hosted the special, also joked about the error by commenting, “Are we sure this wasn’t the effect of a Polyjuice Potion?”

For what it's worth, the mistake has now been corrected. Producers released a statement shortly after the gaffe went viral, saying, “Well spotted Harry Potter fans! You brought an editing mistake of a mislabeled photograph to our attention. New version up shortly.”

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That’s Not The Only Blunder In The New Special!

Oliver Phelps and James Phelps
Instagram / oliver_phelps

Twin brothers James Phelps and Oliver Phelps are best known as Weasley twins Fred and George, respectively. At one point in the special, the name tags of the two brothers are switched, so it says that Oliver is James and that James is Oliver. The name tags have now also been fixed.

Oliver posted about the blunder on Instagram, joking, “I guess after all those pranks over the years somebody decided to get their revenge.”

“It was fantastic to be part of the HP reunion,” he continued. “Hope you all enjoyed it. #ReturnToHogwarts.”

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‘Harry Potter’ Star Tom Felton Breaks His Silence On ‘Scary’ Ryder Cup Incident
Instagram / t22felton

Actor Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the franchise, commented, “This is legit hilarious. Dude. Wtf? Haha.”

However, Tom Felton, who played antagonist Draco Malfoy, joking claimed credit for the blunder, commenting, “It was my doing :) #weaslebee #returntohogwarts” followed by a snake emoji.

One fan called it “the best comment of all time” and awarded 100 points to Slytherin.

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Emma Watson Was Actually Ready To LEAVE The Franchise!

Emma Watson at the The London 2021 Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony
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Many fans were shocked to hear that Emma Watson was ready to walk away from the franchise before the movies had finished filming!

In the special, Watson and Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, talked about how they both had times during filming the series when they thought about what life would be like if they walked away.

“You were considering pulling out,” Grint began. “I’ve never really spoken to you about that.”

“Yeah, I think I was scared,” Watson said. “I don’t know if you ever felt like it got to a tipping point where you were like, this is kind of forever now.”

“The fame thing had finally hit home in a big way,” Watson added.

Grint confessed that he also had moments “all the way through” the franchise where he found himself “contemplating what life would be like if I called it a day.”

Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe at the "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" World premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square, London, England.
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Director DavidYates, who directed the last four films in the “Harry Potter” franchise, said that he first learned that Watson was hesitant to continue her role when “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” started production.

He said that one thing series producer David Hayman “and the studio spoke to me about was, Emma is not sure she wants to come back to do another Potter.”

In the end, Watson said that no one had to “convince” her to stay, adding, “The fans genuinely wanted you to succeed, and we all genuinely have each other’s backs. How great is that?”

The “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” reunion special is available to stream on HBO Max.

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