Emma Watson Breaks Silence on Her 6-Month Driving Ban for Speeding

Emma Watson spoke publicly for the first time about her six-month ban from driving.

The Harry Potter alum, 35, had a wide-ranging conversation with host Jay Shetty for his On Purpose podcast, at one point talking about her day-to-day life now after stepping back from her acting career. (She last appeared onscreen in 2019’s Little Women.)

Watson said she has picked up cycling as a hobby — and joked that the interest came even before her temporary driving ban.

“I recently started riding a bicycle. Yes, I started riding a bicycle before my driving ban, but now it’s particularly fortuitous that I also ride a bicycle for that reason,” she said with a laugh.

When Shetty, 38, remarked that her driving penalty became “mainstream news.” She said, “I was getting phone calls. Like, it’s on the BBC, it was on international, worldwide news! I was like, ‘My shame….’ It is everywhere.”

Watson said she got “so many messages” from people who told her it “happened to me too” and “I feel you, this is awful, it sucks.”

She further explained, “When you worked on movies — I don’t know if people know this — they literally will not insure you to drive yourself to work. I’ve asked so many times. You have to be driven. It’s not a choice. Especially because they need you there down to the minute, basically, depending on what they have going on.”

“So I went from basically only driving myself on weekends or during holiday to when I became a student, driving myself all the time. I did not have the experience or skills, clearly, which I now will and do.”

As the result of a July 2024 speeding incident, Watson was ordered on July 16, 2025, not to drive for six months in the U.K. BBC News reported that the star already had nine points on her driver’s license before the incident and was ordered to pay a fine of £1,044 ($1,396) at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court. Watson did not attend the hearing, which lasted five minutes, according to the outlet.

On the podcast, Watson, who auditioned for and then landed her iconic Potter role at age 9, said the driving incident is an example of “one of these, like, awkward transitions I made from living this very, very structured life to living a life where I was like, ‘Okay, I guess I’m going to get myself to this place and I’m going to do this thing that I’ve basically not done since I was 10 years old.”

“It’s been a discovery and a journey that’s been, I guess, humbling,” she continued. “Because on a movie set, I’m able to do all of these like extremely complex things, stunts, sing, dance … and then I get home and I’m like, ‘Emma, you seem unable to remember keys, wallet, keep yourself at 30 miles an hour in a 30-mile speed limit. You don’t seem able to do some basic life things.’ … It’s been humbling.”

Shetty admitted that he could relate. “By the way, I think I was three points away from losing my license before I moved to the States [nine years ago]. … I think I’m back to six points. I spend two months in London a year.”

“Thank you for that confession,” Watson said with a laugh. “I appreciate that so much.” She added, “A lot of people have taken it upon themselves to come and confess to me, which I found very endearing, and I really appreciate it.”