In today's issue

Emma Watson’s new role is Hermione gone wild

The Harry Potter actress breaks away from her smarty-pants alter-ego in new film called ‘The Bling Ring’

Los Angeles Times
Published: 21:00 March 9, 2013

Image Credit: EPA
epa02813784 British actors and cast members Rupert Grint (L), Emma Watson (C) and Daniel Radcliffe (R) arrive at the world premiere of 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2', held on Trafalgar Square in Central London, Britain, 07 July 2011. This the final film in the Harry Potter series which is based on the best-selling book by British author JK Rowling. The red carpet starts in Trafalgar Square, before heading to Leicester Square where the screening takes place at Odeon Leicester Square, Odeon West End and Empire Leicester Square. It will be released in UK cinemas on 15 July. EPA/DANIEL DEME

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Emma Watson is showing off her wild side in the teaser trailer for Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, a film based on the thefts by a group of youths who target celebrities.

With the hard-partying Nicki character, Watson breaks away from her smarty-pants Harry Potter alter-ego Hermione Granger. Leslie Mann, Judd Apatow’s wife, plays Nicki’s mother in the film, based on Nancy Jo Sales’ 2010 Vanity Fair story, The Suspects Wore Louboutins. Taissa Farmiga, Israel Broussard, Gavin Rossdale, Katie Chang and Erin Daniels are also part of the cast.

“I just watched a ton of reality TV,” Watson explained to Entertainment Weekly of how she prepared for the role. “I was doing an English course [at Brown University]. So I would go from reading Virginia Woolf to [watching] Kim Kardashian. I kind of loved it, this mix of super-high and super-low culture. I think it was a nice balance.”

The film chronicles the lives of teens obsessed with luxury goods and fame as they “go shopping” in celebrities’ closets and enjoy their posh spoils up until their demise. Nicki is based on Alexis Neiers, a Bling Ring member who was outed during her E! reality show Pretty Wild. She pleaded no contest in 2010 to second-degree residential burglary and was also paid by Coppola to consult on the film. She was given probation after serving 30 days of a 180-day sentence.

The group of Calabasas youths made headlines in 2008 and 2009 for burglarising homes of celebrities, including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Audrina Patridge, Rachel Bilson, Megan Fox and Orlando Bloom. To plot their heists, they searched online to find stars’ addresses and learn when the celebs would be out of town.

The Bling Ring made off with more than $3 million (Dh11 million) in art, cash, designer clothes and high-end jewellery, according to authorities.

The case’s lead detective, officer Brett Goodkin, was being investigated by the LAPD for his work as a paid consultant to Coppola, who wrote the screenplay and directed the film.

The final member of the Bling Ring pleaded no-contest last December to the charge of stealing a leather jacket from Paris Hilton’s home in 2009. And if the party-girl shenanigans of the The Bling Ring trailer feel similar to that of Selena Gomez’s Spring Breakers trailer, it might be because the films share the same indie distributor, A24 films. The film hits theatres in the US on June 14.