‘Harry Potter’ Stress Led To Daniel Radcliffe’s Struggle With Alcohol

The stress surrounding the Harry Potter films reportedly led to Daniel Radcliffe’s struggle with alcohol.

The young actor was quickly shoved into the limelight after Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone became a box office hit around the world. The franchise grew in popularity with each installment, something that Radcliffe wasn’t quite ready to handle. To help him deal with the trials and tribulations of fame and stardom, the actor turned to alcohol.

According to the Mirror, the boy who would become Harry Potter occasionally showed hammered to the set. Although he attempted to drown his sorrows in a bottle of spirits, Daniel admitted that it didn’t solve his problems at the end of the day.

The Harry Potter star explained:

“It was not making me as happy as I wanted it to. It is not a real pressure but it is a pressure of living with the thought, ‘Oh, what if all these people are saying I am not going to have a career? What if they are all going to be right and will be laughing and I will be consigned to a bunch of ‘Where are they now?’ lists?”

Although people will always associated the actor with his role as the boy wizard, Radcliffe has since made his peace with Harry Potter. Daniel explained that he owes his current success to the time he spent at Hogwarts.

“People don’t shout Harry Potter at me now, they tend to know my name, which is lovely. But I will always credit the opportunities I get to Harry Potter. I would not be a happy person if I was bitter about those ten years of my life,” he explained.

However, just because Radcliffe is okay with his Harry Potter past doesn’t mean he’s ready to jump back into character to help promote the latest addition to the theme park. Despite rumors that he and his co-stars are teaming up to shoot footage for the “Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts” ride, the actor explained that nothing of sort has taken place.

Radcliffe clarified:

“A while ago they asked me to do more stuff for the theme park, and that was my moment to try and draw a line because that theme park is going to keep expanding… and there’s going to come a point where I’m going to be 30 years old, and if I was still doing that then, that would be a huge problem.”

Unfortunately for Harry Potter fanatics, Daniel Radcliffe isn’t reprising his role for the spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Although he has great respect for the character, he’s obviously ready to put those days behind him.

[Image via Warner Bros. Pictures]