Emma Watson: More spiritual than religious

3/28/2014

LOS ANGELES — Emma Watson was no believer.

She just couldn’t see Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky telling the Biblical story of Noah.

“Darren does these very dark, very intense, very gritty, very real films,” the Harry Potter actress explained. “And then Noah is kind of — you see this guy with the long beard and there’s the animals. ... You can’t really picture it.”

Then the 23-year-old Watson read the script by Aronofsky and Ari Handel.

“I think it’s a really original take on a genre, on a story, on an idea,” said Watson, who portrays Noah’s adopted daughter Ila. "I already had the sense that I was someone who was more spiritual than specifically religious. ... I'm really interested in those things that are more far-reaching than culture, nationality, race, religion."