Emma’s part to play

So, as it stands, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. I’m currently re-reading the whole series ahead of the launch of the latest film (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and the final book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), which both come out this July.

But it kind of sucks that it sounds like Emma Watson, the actress who plays Hermione Granger, doesn’t want to renew her contract to do the last two films.

Right now it’s still a bit early to bet on anything, but there are a number of reports saying that she turned down a contract worth a couple million dollars – at least partly because she doesn’t want to get stuck always being referred to as Hermione.

I’m almost certain the studio will come up with a deal for her, but I’m always a bit torn on topics like this. I mean, this girl has it pretty good – getting paid millions just to live out a character, and doesn’t she kind of owe it to the fans to finish the series at this point?

But that said, she is a young actress, and who would want to get pinned down to a job for 10 years and have no way to escape to do something you really wanted to do?

What do folks think? In a series like this, do the actors owe it to fans to finish up the series? Or better yet, does anyone think this is just a bargaining chip to get her more cash?