The threat was launched hours after Watson, 24, launched the HeForShe campaign in a speech at the UN in which she appealed to men to speak out over gender equality. “I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realised that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating,” she said. “If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.” Watson’s first appearance as Hermione Granger was in 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as an 11-year-old.  She told UN delegates in New York that she started thinking about gender inequality as a child three years before hitting the big time. UN Women, a United Nations group looking at gender equality, also suggested that the global film industry doesn’t do enough to represent women in films.

It said there had not been enough speaking roles for women, sexualisation is common and women have been under-represented in action and adventure movies. It found 23 percent of speaking characters in that genre were female. The study looked at films made in 11 countries, including South Korea, the US and India.

The UK was singled out for doing a better job than some other countries by creating more speaking roles for women.