Happy birthday, Emma Watson! Here’s what’s next for our Hermione

Harry Potter superstar Emma Watson celebrates her 26th birthday today. We look ahead to her upcoming projects, from Beauty and the Beast to HeForShe.

It’s been almost 10 years since she graduated from Hogwarts, and yet Emma Watson will probably always be most famous for portraying Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series.

And yet we continue to be wowed by Emma’s choices, both in terms of the roles she’s played in movies, and her feminist powerhouse #HeForShe. Emma has always claimed to identify with Hermione, and her literally following in the character’s footsteps and becoming the face of an organization that aims promote equality has just made us love her even more.

Today is Emma Watson’s 26th birthday, and we want to mark the occasion by telling you where you can experience the young actress/activist next!

‘Beauty and the Beast’ (2017)

Emma Watson will be playing another brunette bookworm in Disney’s upcoming live-action Beauty and the Beast remake. She’s starring opposite Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey, with the impressive cast list also boasting the talents of Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Luke Evans, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Audra MacDonald, Kevin Kline, and Ian McKellen.

Although filming on the Bill Condon-directed musical has already wrapped and the movie hits in less than a year, there’s still no official footage or stills. But at CinemaCon earlier this week, Disney did describe the film as a “breathtaking reimagining,” and said the reception from audiences has been “nothing short of extraordinary.”

Beauty and the Beast will be released on March 17, 2017.

‘The Circle’ (2016)

Although this film is much less anticipated than Beauty and the Beast, it actually has an equally impressive cast. Emma Watson stars as Mae, a young woman “who lands a job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, where she becomes involved with a mysterious man.”

With Tom Hanks, The Force Awakens‘ John Boyega and Doctor Who‘s Karen Gillan, this film is a fangirl or boy’s dream come true. The film is based on the novel by Dave Eggers, and was directed by James Ponsoldt. It has a 2016 release, but no exact date has yet been set.

He For She

Of course Emma Watson is only acting part-time, the rest of her efforts being spent on the HeForShe Initiative. With a mission of gender equality, the feminist organization wants to represent men as well as women, and has been embraced by Hollywood.

As a Global Goodwill Ambassador of UN Women, Watson is one of the three key voices in the HeForShe movement, the other two being Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women), and the Head of the HeForShe Initiative, Elizabeth Nyamayaro (Senior Advisor to the Under-Secretary-General of UN Women).

In fact, HeForShe is a main reason you won’t be seeing her in many upcoming projects. “I’m taking a year away from acting,” she told Paper Magazine in February, explaining that she would be focusing on self-development as well as the HeForShe initiative.

“We are organizing a HeForShe arts week, a university tour, and launching the HeForShe website. It’s a lot. There’s a lot to do,” she said.

As part of the arts week, Emma sat down for a lengthy interview with Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda, which included this precious beatboxing session:

If we weren’t already super invested in HeForShe, we sure would be now!

Relatedly, Emma also recently started a book club, which is currently reading How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. Well worth a follow if you want to discover more women’s voices.