In the News: Daniel Radcliffe Discusses Booze, Harry Potter, and Why He’s Sober

Getting sober is truly something magical, and in the past Daniel Radcliffe, who played the lead legendary wizard in the world famous Harry Potter film series, has confessed he for a time was using alcohol to help him cope with fame and personal misfortunes, but now claims to be completely content in his sobriety. The 24-year-old actors trouble with alcohol began when he was filming the Harry Potter franchise because he was having an extremely difficult time trying to adapt with his new celebrity status, the pressure of his fan base, and the young actor also came face to face with problems concerning his memory, the increasing alcohol abuse, and grieving a lost companion during the filming of the Harry Potter series which elevated his status in film.

Acting with Alcoholism

The Life and Career of Daniel Radcliffe is a tell-all set to be released in July of 2014 written by Randy Jernigan where the author spoke to several of Radcliffe’s closest friends and co-workers to build a back-ground for the book. What the author soon learned was that Daniel Radcliffe had been diagnosed with a devastating developmental coordination disorder that put a great deal of strain on his career and personal life. This particular disorder is described as a neurological disorder that afflicts the memory and body movements, and because Radcliffe’s occupation encompasses the need to memorize lines of dialog and onset performances it is reasonable that this news had such a harsh effect on the actor who has in his early teens at the time.

To deal with the complications of this new diagnosis and the anxiety that came with it Daniel Radcliffe began to abuse alcohol regularly. Still only a teen, he began sneaking drinks at his parents’ house. Progressively he became dependent on the alcohol physically and mentally. Radcliffe moved out of his parent’s home at 17 years old due to the events and quickly became something like a shut in. His alcohol abuse had escalated to where he preferred to drink alone at home after filming, and he has even admitted to showing up to filming for Harry Potter intoxicated. He even stated,

“It was not making me as happy as I wanted it to,” and went on to say, “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?”

Radcliffe’s Recovery

Radcliffe realized that he had a problem and was able to halt the alcohol abuse during the end of the Harry Potter movies franchise, but again in 2012 the actor began drinking after his performance in The Cripple of Inishmaan had taken a toll on him, and he found himself relying on alcohol. Then in March of 2013 tragedy struck Daniels life, when his close friend Richard Griffiths died. Radcliffe considered Griffiths his best friend and was very overwhelmed by the event. Afterward Radcliffe was back to making progress in getting control of his life, and was sober.

In an interview Radcliffe said he has not had a drop of alcohol since 2010, even though Jernigan said in his book that the actor did drink eventually in 2013. The actor does confirm that he became very dependent on drinking whiskey because he was not well adjusted or suited for the lifestyle of the famous.

Throughout the shooting of the Harry Potter series, Daniel Radcliffe suffered deeply on an emotional, mental, and personal level. From struggling with the development of a neurological disorder, to the loss of a best friend, and chronic relapses into alcoholism, Daniel Radcliffe had his fair share of secrets from the media and the fans. Thankfully he says he has gotten the control of his life back, and prefers the quiet life, reading books instead of binging on booze. He gives much credit of his current happiness to the process of the Harry Potter projects, because it created a career path for him, and also says he would not be happy without the impact of those films on his life. He says he know he would have benefitted from not drinking. Hopefully with the evolution of his career he will remain in that mind state, and enjoy the magic of sobriety.

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