Emma Watson was "very nervous" before speaking at the United Nations (UN) headquarters.
The 24-year-old actress, who gave a speech about gender inequality as she launched the HeForShe campaign in her role as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in New York City last month, admits it "wasn’t an easy thing" for her to do, she but feels "lucky" that she was raised to be a feminist.
The ‘Noah’ star told the December issue of the UK edition of Elle magazine: "I was very nervous. It wasn’t an easy thing for me to do. It felt like, ‘Am I going to have lunch with these people, or am I going to be eaten? Am I the lunch?’ "
The former ‘Harry Potter’ actress says she hopes to continue to clear up possible misconceptions about feminism.
She said: "Feminism is not here to dictate to you. It’s not prescriptive, it’s not dogmatic. All we are here to do is give you a choice. If you want to run for President, you can. If you don’t, that’s wonderful, too."
She added: "I’m lucky I was raised to believe that my opinion at the dinner table was valuable. My mum and I spoke as loudly as my brothers."
During her acclaimed speech, Emma said she first experienced sexism from the age of eight.
She added: "Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong.
"If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are — we can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom."
Emma Watson was ‘very nervous’ before her feminism speech
