Emma Watson is "socially awkward".
The 23-year-old actress struggles in big crowds because she finds it difficult to chat to people and often escapes to the bathroom on the rare occasions she goes to parties.
She said: "I feel like I’ve been given a lot of credit where it isn’t due that I don’t like to party.
"The truth is that I’m genuinely a shy, socially awkward, introverted person. At a big party, I’m like Bambi in the headlights. It’s too much stimulation for me, which is why I end up going to the bathroom! I need time outs!
"I get anxious. I’m terrible at small talk and I have a ridiculously short attention span."
In 2009, Emma enrolled in prestigious Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island but deferred her studies after 18 months because she was also working on the ‘Harry Potter’ film series.
Because of her hectic schedule, the ‘Noah’ star – who went on to study for a year at Oxford University in the UK before returning to Brown last year – has learned how to relax and appreciate she can’t do everything.
Speaking to the new edition of Wonderland magazine – which she has guest edited – she said: "Now I really know how to take care of myself, how to be alone, how to deal with stress.
"If I hadn’t been through that time, I wouldn’t have got there. I never knew I had limits. You make good friends and you make bad friends, and you have to figure it all out.
"You realise you can’t do everything. I really did think I could do it all – commute back to the UK for ‘Potter’ filming and press, then go to Brown for finals, and keep up with my friends and family. You can’t do it, by the way. You do have to take breaks.
"It’s how I became interested in meditation and yoga. I developed bedtime rituals."
Emma Watson is shy at parties
