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The first time I came face to face with Emma was at the LOTR: The Return of the King premiere last December. I am a much a bigger fan of Harry Potter than Lord of the Rings so I got to joking with another HP fan as we waited for almost 12 hours in the winter rain about how awesome it would be if a HP star turned up!
Well around 5.30pm after a couple of minor kiddie groups and boy bands the crowd got a bit more excited by the next arrival and the girl I had been joking with just turned round and screamed 'It's Emma!!' It was very exciting as we saw her getting out of the car with her little brother but she immediately went to sign autographs at the opposite side to where we were. So this girl and I knew this could be our only chance to get a HP autograph so we asked all the people around us if they would help call her over. So after a count to three around 15 or so shouted 'EMMA!' but she didn't hear (not surprising when she was about 25 feet away and there being a crowd of around 10,000). So we tried once more and miraculously she heard! She just turned towards our part of the crowd and even though her PR people were trying to usher her in she literally came running over to us!
She was so unbelievably confident for a 13 year old and she had smiles and hellos for everyone. She signed my LOTR book (all I had on me lol) and waved goodbye. I wasn't a huge fan of hers before this but after this encounter I really became a fan.
The second time I had the pleasure of meeting Emma was at the POA after show party. Despite standing outside Leicester Square Odeon for 12 hours I didn't get the chance to get Emma's signature on my HP book but my friend managed to find out from a security guard where the after show party would be. Despite extreme tiredness we got the Underground over to Kensington about half an hour before the film was due to end. There was a surprisingly small crowd outside so we got ourselves a bench right in front of the railings. Only a few stars got out of the cars and came over to sign autographs but Rupert and Dan waved and went straight in. Emma was the only star to come over and sign EVERYONE's autographs! I mean she went right down the line and it was no short distance in those shoes! I felt a bit of a fool standing there with wind swept hair and 15 hour old make up and her looking so immaculate but she is such a sweetheart. I had the chance to tell her that her dress was stunning (which I swear it was, the pictures really don't do justice to how she looked in person) and she had the biggest grin and sincerely said 'Thank You'.
Now I'm not one of those people who gushes over celebrities just because they are famous but Emma really does stand out against other people I met at these two events. She is a lot more at ease with the attention and fans compared to Daniel Radcliffe. She also has a very confident presence about her which is probably why she made such a memorable impression on me the first time when I wasn't a fan of hers even when she was in the presence of people like Sir Ian Mckellen and Liv Tyler.
I even saw her throw a little strop at David Heyman because he was practically dragging her inside the cinema but she hadn't signed for the last part of the crowd! It was great to see as a fan! Emma very clearly cares a lot about her fans and if you have the opportunity to meet her in the future I'm 100% certain that you won't be disappointed!
