Daniel Radcliffe had a REALLY hard time after the Harry Potter movies ended
Daniel Radcliffe was cast as our favorite boy wizard, Harry Potter, when he was just eleven years old. Over ten years, he not only filmed eight movies, but he also promoted them, traveling all over the world as the face of the franchise. He pretty much grew up as Harry Potter.
The 26-year-old actor recently admitted that the end of filming, his graduation from Hogwarts so to speak, was extremely difficult. He could no longer live as Harry; he had to be Daniel full time, and it was overwhelming. In an interview on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, Daniel described his anxiety over his life post-Potter:
This isn’t the first time Daniel has opened up about his alcohol use. He’s admitted to multiple publications (and Wendy Williams) that he started getting black out drunk on a nightly basis when he was filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at eighteen. However, in 2010, when he was only 21, Daniel quit drinking when he started performing eight shows a week on Broadway, first in Equus, and then in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Though Daniel confessed he became reliant on alcohol, he told Marc Maron that he has been sober for two years, which is amazing. He’s moved on from Harry Potter – he’s been working on other movies consistently and is currently promoting his latest film, Victor Frankenstein.
When he remembers the battle he was fighting within himself after Harry Potter, Daniel doesn’t seem to be headed down that path again. “You get bored of waking up feeling like that,” he said. Now, you’re more likely to find him at a Starbucks than a bar.
“And even at work, people in America go, ‘Hey, do you want to go out for a coffee?’ ‘What? Yeah, I suppose I do,’” he said. “That’s what I can do now. It’s very different.”
We’re so glad Radcliffe has gotten healthy and is feeling awesome about his life. Major life transitions can be so traumatic, and we’re just so glad that one of our favorite actors muscled through the tough times and is now in a stable and great place.
Related reading:
Yes, Daniel Radcliffe is going to be weirded out when someone else plays Harry Potter
Daniel Radcliffe lands one of Hollywood’s biggest honors, chokes us up with his speech
(Image via Warner Brothers.)
