In 2014, when Emma Watson stood up in front of the U.N. to deliver a galvanizing speech on the state of gender equality around the globe, she drew fire from both sides of the aisle. As she fielded a coordinated attack from online users who considered her feminism to be “a growing cancer,” Watson was also hammered on the left by those who felt her stance on gender equality wasn’t inclusive enough. But Watson—who is taking a year off from acting to grow her understanding about global gender equality—has some sharp words for her critics.

“We are not supposed to talk about money, because people will think you’re ‘difficult’ or a ‘diva,’” she told Esquire echoing Jennifer Lawrence’s recent comments on the wage gap in Hollywood. “But there’s a willingness now to be like, ‘Fine. Call me a ‘diva,’ call me a ‘feminazi,’ call me ‘difficult,’ call me a ‘First World feminist,’ call me whatever you want, it’s not going to stop me from trying to do the right thing and make sure that the right thing happens.”

You may think that the million-dollar stakes of the Hollywood wage gap alone would be enough to make Watson’s message not very universal, but she argues, “It doesn’t just affect me. It affects all the other women who are in this with me, and it affects all the other men who are in this with me, too. Hollywood is just a small piece of a gigantic puzzle but it’s in the spotlight. Whether you are a woman on a tea plantation in Kenya, or a stockbroker on Wall Street, or a Hollywood actress, no one is being paid equally.”

And Watson revealed to Esquire that her status as the beloved star of the Harry Potter franchise hasn’t shielded her from the nastier sides of gender inequality. Yes, even Hermione gets harassed. “I’ve had my arse slapped as I’ve left a room,” she says. “I’ve felt scared walking home. I’ve had people following me. I don’t talk about these experiences much, because coming from me they’ll sound like a huge deal and I don’t want this to be about me, but most women I know have experienced it and worse.”

One of the biggest criticisms levied against Watson’s U.N. speech was that her words on gender equality weren’t inclusive of non-white, non-straight women. But recently Watson has hitched her star to non-white feminist author and intersectionality expert, bell hooks. Watson sat down with hooks for a recent interview in Paper magazine and, when speaking to Esquire, casually dropped a reference to hooks: “Women want to be women. We just want to be treated equally. It’s not about man hating. bell hooks says, ‘Patriarchy has no gender.’”

But hooks isn’t the only author Watson has been studying. She also dropped heavy names like Gloria Steinem and Rebecca Solnit in her Esquire chat, and it’s clear that those who thought Watson was just another celebrity dilettante activist were sorely mistaken. “Feminism isn’t about being perfect,” Watson says, citing Steinem. But it’s clear that Watson—a Brown graduate and poster child for bright, young women everywhere—is determined to get as close to perfect as she can.