While there’s a fair bit of mischief managed, the truth is Alex Watson and Emma Watson are better together.
This is not to say, however, there isn’t a healthy amount of sibling rivalry. Though if you ask Alex, it’s a relatively one-sided battle.
“She, bless her, is very competitive,” he joked to E! News in an exclusive interview. “It's classic older sister stuff, isn't it? She's annoyingly good at anything that she picks up. It can be any number of things that she'll adopt and then just become very good at very quickly.”
In this case, the adopted skill in question was the creation of a vesper martini in a challenge posed for the pair by British Vogue—using the Renais Gin the siblings co-created. The brand, which has been on the worldwide market for over a year, just celebrated its US launch and is available for purchase stateside starting July 1.
“Although I've spent a lot more time making drinks,” Alex continued of the challenge, “she really studied and did her homework.”
And a dogged dedication to the craft isn’t the only Hermione-inspired trait Emma has brought to the siblings’ new brand, as Alex added, “I think just how diligent she is in everything that she does, and how much care and thought she puts into it. It's an incredibly rewarding and fun experience to get to work with your family.”
Because, after all, Renais is a family affair. Though spearheaded by Alex and Emma, the duo were inspired by their father Chris Watson’s history in the Chablis region of France. In fact, the wine surplus from the family’s own vineyards is used in the creation of Renais, as a way to remain more sustainable.
“With Emma, we really play well to one another's strengths,” Alex continued, adding of the 34-year-old, “And she was very involved from a creative perspective. It's really nice for me to be able to see her flex her creative muscles in quite a fun, safe space for her, which is quite new.”
And something new for Alex? A more public-facing persona. Despite a brief foray into modeling and acting when he was younger, the 31-year-old only created an Instagram profile a year ago at the time of Renais’ launch.
“The sort of quite odd, but very exciting byproduct of having started this company,” he reflected, “is that all of a sudden I have a bit of a platform to engage and tell the story of what it's like to be a founder and a business owner, which is awesome.”
It’s a platform his sister is more accustomed to, Alex acknowledged.
“She's just lived so many experiences and seen and done so much for someone her age,” he added of Emma. “And also with an incredible amount of maturity. So as much as I'd be hesitant to admit, she gives good advice all the time.”
And that poise in the spotlight is something he’s admired of his older sister for a long time, even since his time on the Harry Potter set (if you look closely, a keen eye can catch him in the Great Hall in one scene of 2007’s The Order of the Phoenix).
“I remember just being very impressed, as someone who's not particularly comfortable being on camera or being photographed or doing acting or whatever,” Alex said of his time watching Emma take on the role Hermione. “Therefore watching someone who's so proficient at it is very impressive. I remember, at a young age even, being like, ‘Wow. She's really good at that.’”
