Emma Watson's magic touch makes her the decade's highest grossing actress

At the tender age of 19 most teenagers are only just beginning to think about their future careers.

But Emma Watson is celebrating being named the highest paid actress of the past decade.

Despite being just nine years old at the Millennium her extra-curricular activities playing Hermione in the Harry Potter films have made more money than any other woman in Hollywood.

They and her role in the animation The Tale Of Despereaux have taken $5.4billion (£3.32billion) worldwide, putting her films' box-office takings ahead of Hollywood heavyweights such as Julia Roberts, Halle Berry and Cameron Diaz.

She also boasts the highest average box office receipts per movie, with each of her films making an average of £554,880,000.

The star topped the poll by the Guinness Book Of World Records.
The accolade caps a remarkable rise to fame for the former pupil of Stagecoach Theatre Arts in Oxford.

Since her first outing as Hermione as a 10-year-old in 2001, she has amassed a £10million fortune and was recently placed sixth on Forbes' list of Hollywood's Most Valuable Young Stars.

Watson is currently the face of Burberry Prorsum and has announced that she is creating a fashion range for ethical brand People Tree next year.

She has also emulated the academic achievements of her character Hermione, earning eight A*s and two As at GCSE, and three As at A-level. She now divides her time between fashion and studying art and literature at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

She has refused to abandon her education to become a full-time actress, saying: 'People can't understand why I don't want to ... but school life keeps me in touch with my friends. It keeps me in touch with reality.'

She appears in the final film of the wizard series, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, which is split into two films - due out next year and in 2011.

Watson attended the open auditions for the first Harry Potter in 1999, and later admitted: 'I had no idea of the scale of the film series. If I had I would have been completely overwhelmed.'

Fellow Briton Keira Knightley is the second-highest grossing actress, thanks to her roles in the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies. She starred in 12 other movies in the past 10 years, taking her total receipts to $3.42billion (£2.52billion).

The highest grossing actor of all time is Samuel L Jackson, who has appeared in more than 70 movies, including the new Star Wars trilogy, Die Hard With A Vengeance and Pulp Fiction.

source: dailymail