At Cannes Film Festival, Emma Watson revels in her post-‘Harry Potter’ freedom

CANNES, France – Emma Watson is reveling in her post-“Harry Potter” freedom at the Cannes Film Festival.

The 23-year-old actress stars in Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring,” which premiered Thursday at the French Riviera festival. Watson plays a celebrity-obsessed Los Angeles teenager who, with a group of friends, burgles Hollywood stars.

With a thick Valley Girl accent, it’s a character far from the wise-beyond-her-years Hermione of “Harry Potter.”

At Cannes, Watson told reporters that while she remains proud of her work on the “Potter” films, they now feel long ago. She said she’s now “re-enjoying” transforming into new roles. Making “The Bling Ring,” she said, was much easier since she’s used to reciting lines “people know by heart.”