Although Daniel Radcliffe has taken on a handful of exciting — and often quirky — roles in the past few years, it’s hard to imagine that the British actor will be able to escape the cloud that hangs over him. For better or for worse, Radcliffe seems doomed to always be remembered for his role as the bespectacled boy wizard — Harry Potter.
While Daniel had a couple of acting roles in his early years — per his IMDb page, he played a young David Copperfield on the small screen — Radcliffe was thrust into the limelight when he was cast as Harry Potter, making his big screen debut in 2001.
All the way through to 2011, Radcliffe played the role of the eponymous wizard across eight different films, and some of his most diehard fans remain hopeful that he will return to the role should Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ever be adapted for film. For those who are unaware, Cursed Child is a two-part stage play that focuses on the tense relationship between an adult Harry and his second son, Albus.
Even though Radcliffe, 29, has kept busy with acting — across film, TV, and stage — over the years, he has recently opened up regarding his late teenage years. In an interview with Off Camera with Sam Jones — via E! News — Daniel admitted that he struggled with alcohol use, and turned to drink in order to handle the fame and stardom that came with playing Harry Potter.
“There is an awareness that I really struggled with particularly in my late teens when I was going out to places for the first time where you would feel…again it could have largely been in my head but…you would feel watched when you went into a bar, when you went into a pub,” Radcliffe described. “Then, in my case, the quickest way of forgetting about the fact that you were being watched was to get very drunk and then as you get very drunk, you become aware that, oh people are watching more now because now I’m getting very drunk, so I should probably drink more to ignore that more.”
“It can affect your psyche,” Radcliffe says of fame at a young age: https://t.co/dsrXMZg0fj
— TooFab (@TooFab) February 20, 2019
Radcliffe even expressed empathy for other young celebrities who have been caught acting out or taking part in infamous antics, including young singer-songwriter Justin Bieber.
Even though Daniel Radcliffe dealt with numerous emotional issues during his younger years, that hasn’t slowed the actor down. This year, Radcliffe is set to star in two films: Guns Akimbo, and Playmobil: The Movie. He also landed the lead role in the TBS comedy series Miracle Workers. Daniel plays Craig, a low-level angel who works to try and prevent the destruction of Earth.
