Emma Watson has admitted she used to hate her ‘strong eyebrows’.

The 25-year-old actress made the confession on Wednesday as she interviewed feminist Gloria Steinem in front of a sold-out crowd at Emmanuel Centre in London.

Emma said: ‘I used to hate that I had strong eyebrows. As a nine-year-old I desperately wanted to pluck them and make them two thin lines.’

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Learning to embrace her insecurities: Emma Watson admitted on Wednesday that she used to hate her ‘strong eyebrows’

But she admitted that ‘you come to embrace these things’, adding: ‘My mother desperately tried to tell me that they gave my face character, don’t be ashamed.’

And perhaps mother does know best – since prominent brows are currently the height of fashion.

Watson also reflected on her breakthrough appearance playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films as she interviewed 81-year-old Steinem, who has just published her latest book, My Life On The Road, for a special event held by the How To Academy.

‘I feel as though I spent a long time trying to pretend I was not like Hermione. And, of course, I was rather like Hermione. I’ve finally come to accept the fact,’ she said.

See more of the latest on Emma Watson as she talks about embracing insecurities 

‘As a nine-year-old I desperately wanted to pluck them’: The actress, pictured here in 2000 aged 10, said she longed to ‘make them two thin lines’

Much anticipated: Emma made the admission while interviewing Gloria Steinem at Emmanuel Centre in London

Her comments come just days after she announced she would be taking a year out from acting to focus on feminist activism and her role as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations Women.

In true Hermione fashion, she told Paper magazine she wanted to ‘read a book a week’ to improve on her knowledge of feminism.

The actress chose Steinem’s My Life On The Road as the first read for her book club, something that the feminist was ‘so honoured by’.

She previously told BBC Breakfast: ‘The book club is so important. It’s such a wonderful thing she’s done, using her well-knowness [sic] to raise awareness.’

‘I’ve finally come to accept the fact’: The 25-year-old also said she has embraced her alike she is to her Harry Potter character Hermione

Taking a gap year: Her comments come days after she announced she would be taking a year out from acting to focus on feminist activism and her role as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations Women

Steinem also mentioned Watson’s gap year to the crowd at the Emmanuel Centre in London, describing it as ‘precious and unusual’.

She told Watson: ‘I think people come to know you on screen and they trust you. That is why it is so great and important that you are taking that trust and putting it to work by giving out activism information.’

Watson and Steinem also spoke about their experiences as prominent speakers in the feminist movement.

Watson said that she can suffer from ‘frustrating’ mind-blanks and ‘thought she was going to die’ when she made her first speech on the topic at the UN on the launch of her HeForShe campaign.

Improving her knowledge on feminism: Emma plans to ‘read a book a week’, and Gloria’s My Life On The Road was the first read for her book club

‘I just shake and am really embarrassed’: The star said that she still gets nerves when speaking in public

She admitted nerves still get to her. ‘I just shake and am really embarrassed and conscious that people can see me shaking. So I try to keep my hands out of view, then I try to introduce them later on so I don’t look stiff,’ she said.

Watson also described acting as ‘both the most liberating and terrifying thing’ and talked about how she finds speaking as a character compared with speaking as herself.

‘It’s the most transcendent amazing experience, and I love what I do. But to speak from my own experience is really amazing for me,’ she said.

Watson looked stunning for the much anticipated talk, dressed in a white Ellery blouse with billowing sleeves, with black Edun trousers, matching blazer and heels.

‘It’s the most transcendent amazing experience’: Emma spoke about her love of acting, but added that it’s important to her to speak from her own experience too