Emma Watson leaves Hermione (and her hair) behind

Emma Watson may be leaving Hermione Granger behind on the film set, but not in her heart - the two share a similar passion for learning.

Watson, whose character in the Harry Potter movies made it cool to be a studious teacher's pet, says she's "addicted to knowledge" and motivated to keep learning while doing other film projects, The Associated Press reports.

Watson, who has played Hermione for more than half her life, is a sophomore at Brown University in Rhode Island, where she is majoring in history. Unlike many of her young Potter co-stars, she chose to continue her education after graduating from high school.

"I love learning. I'm just addicted to knowledge. It just, like, makes me happy. It keeps me motivated," she said in an interview while promoting her latest film, the first installment of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which opened Thursday at midnight."I don't think that by doing these movies I know everything. I just feel like that's the point of being alive, to try and understand the world that's around you. And it just keeps me in touch with real life," she said.

Watson said she needs to "move on" from her character Hermione, the frizzy-haired smarty-pants heroine in the Potter series, who battles evil witches and wizards with brainpower and magical skill. One aspect of moving on was chopping off her wild, golden-brown Hermione locks for a pixie cut. The "dramatic" trip to the hairdressers was not a random whim, but a personal decision to symbolize the next chapter of her life.