This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Emma Watson is L.A.-ifying herself in order to play the lead character in Sofia Coppola's upcoming movie about the Bling Ring, the group of teenagers who burglarized a number of local celebrity homes. In the first official photo from the film, Watson, sporting stick straight hair, a giant fur vest, and towering high heels, sort of unfortunately nails the look.
The picture, which features the "Harry Potter" alongside a gaggle of her co-stars, was first released by EW.com. In describing to the website how she prepared for the role, Watson painted a bleak portrait of young Los Angeles:
I just watched a ton of reality TV...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.
Ouch.
Anyway, Watson's character, Nicki, is based on Alexis Neiers, a 20-year-old member of the Bling Ring who hails from Westlake Village. In real life, Neiers served 30 days in jail following the ring's untoward activities, and went on to star in a short-lived reality show.
Earlier this month, Watson tweeted an unofficial picture of herself wearing a pink tracksuit and Uggs, writing, "Twitterers meet Nicki, Nicki meet twitterers :)," then "Nicki likes Lip Gloss, Purses, Yoga, Pole Dancing, Uggs, Louboutins, Juice Cleanses, Iced coffee and Tattoos."
