Emma Watson has made the transition from child star to grown-up actress pretty seamlessly, proving herself a role model for young women in Hollywood and for young women everywhere. But that’s not always the case for actors, who sometimes find it difficult to move on from their childhood roles, and Emma said recently that she learned a lot from a co-star who went through it too.

Emma, who worked with Ethan Hawke on Regression, said recently that Hawke was a “joy” to be around on set and that they often shared stories on what it was like to be in the spotlight at an early age.

“He’s just such a joy to be around. Every day he would come into the make-up trailer playing a different instrument. He was just really nice to be around. He was also a child actor, so it was nice. I got to talk to him a lot about what that’s like,” Watson told Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

Watson, who is a UN Goodwill Ambassador in her free time, has made her voice heard amongst the other women of Hollywood when it comes to how females are perceived when they assert their voices. Watson said recently that women are often seen as “bossy” when they give their opinion on something, whereas men are viewed as “powerful”. She also spoke about her role in Regression, as that of a girl who was allegedly sexually abused by her father, who has no memory of it.

“I never would have done a movie like this without knowing I was doing it with a director who was incredibly tasteful, which is Alejandro (Amenabar). Under any other circumstance, I wouldn’t really go there. He’s just so good,” Emma Watson said.

Regression hits theaters in February.