Daniel Radcliffe found it difficult to cope with the pressures of being in the spotlight early on in life.
In order to get through it, he got “very drunk,” the actor revealed on an episode of “Off Camera With Sam Jones” that premiered this week.
“The quickest way to forget about the fact that you were being watched was to get very drunk,” the 29-year-old said.
“Then as you get very drunk, you become aware, ‘Oh, people are watching more now because now I’m getting very drunk, so I should probably drink more to ignore that more.’”
Radcliffe had his own expectations for himself and how he should be coping with his fame and his job. He figured that famous actors should be “crazy cool drunks” and that he himself should just be “delighted all the time.”
“You have a great job, you’re wealthy, you don’t have a right to not be excited about the thing all the time,” the actor said.
“I think that’s a pressure as well. You suddenly start to feel, ‘Man, if I am just feeling some human emotion of sadness, does that mean I’m doing this wrong? Am I not good at being famous?’”
Radcliffe eventually became sober in 2012 after a “couple of attempts,” attributing it to both the people around him and his own will to give up alcohol.
“I have been unbelievably lucky with the people I had around me at certain times in my life. I met some really key people, some actors, some of them not, who just gave me great advice and really cared for me,” he said.
Radcliffe adds that “it was just my own decision. I woke up one morning after a night, going, ‘This is probably not good.’”
In a 2016 interview with The Telegraph, the actor said he gave up alcohol because he was “one of those people who changes” when they drink and then becomes “attracted to that chaos.”
“I can’t tell you what kind of drunk I am because I don’t remember what kind of drunk I am. I think I’m probably great ― while I’m conscious,” he said.
“But then I have to be looked after and ultimately I don’t want to wake up to 20 text messages along the lines of, ‘Where are you? Dude, are you OK?’”
Since becoming sober, Radcliffe told The Telegraph, he’s more likely to be found buried in a book or heading to the supermarket instead of going to the bar.
“It sounds so sad but I love going to the supermarket, doing a shop. I feel I’ve achieved something, been productive,” he said.
Need help with substance abuse or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.