Daniel Radcliffe hasn’t had an alcoholic beverage since August 2010. He spoke about his alcoholism last year, while he was promoting the last Harry Potter film. While I respected Daniel’s decision to stop boozing, I also had some doubt as to whether Daniel was really an alcoholic, or whether he was just a kid who liked to drink and who hadn’t found his limit, you know? I think there’s a difference between “a kid who can’t hold his s–t together while wasted” and “alcoholism”. But that was before I knew this – Daniel’s boozing was so bad at one point, he was “still drunk” while he worked on Harry Potter. Oh, DanRad. That’s a bad sign.
We’d like to buy a trend. Less than a week after Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak admitted to being drunk at work, news of another celebrity who has revealed that he, too, was under the influence in front of the camera, is making the rounds.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe tells the British celebrity magazine Heat that he went to work on the set while drunk.
But unlike Sajak’s lighthearted account of margaritas with Vanna White on filming breaks, Radcliffe, 22, shares a darker experience.
“I went into work still drunk,” he tells the magazine. “I can point to many scenes where I’m just gone. Dead behind the eyes. I have a very addictive personality. It was a problem.”
Stressing that he didn’t drink at work, Radcliffe adds that, “People with problems like that are very adept at hiding it. It was bad. I drank a lot and it was … nightly.”
The actor has said that he no longer drinks. “You either have to change something,” he tells Heat, “or give into that shame.
[From People]
Ah, so he wasn’t “drinking at work,” he just showed up to work still drunk. You know what this reminds me of? All of those stories about Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole and all of those actors from another generation who not only showed up to work still drunk from the night before, but continued to drink throughout the day. Like, they would never NOT be wasted. Would their performances have been better without the booze? I don’t know. But I’m glad Daniel is talking about this stuff so openly, and I’m beginning to think that he did probably have a problem.
By the way, Daniel’s new film, The Woman In Black, came close to being the number one film at this weekend’s box office. It made $21 million, and that means that DanRad can still make movies beyond the Harry Potter franchise. Sober! (Sidenote: I can’t even watch the ads for The Woman In Black! I hate scary movies so much.)
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
I grew up with Harry Potter and people kept saying how none of the actors would go far after the series ended. That’s why I’m so proud if Daniel. He’s doing amazing so far. And the fact that he’s open about his addiction instead burying it and pretending to be this perfect, untoucable guy makes me even more proud. Granted, he’s older than me but it’s still very impressive.
Many-many Hollywood actors have gone to work drunk, high, or both (side-eye Lindsay Lohan).
The difference with Daniel is that he made it work. He reported also to work. Again side-eye to LiLo. All of them will go through one type or another of addiction in that environment. What is important here is how they pull through.
That is how you can measure the character of the actor, beyond the characters he or she plays.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
I might still be drunk from yesterday.
Just putting that out there.
And I didn’t even do the Superbowl–I just marathoned Community (Donald Glover, please call me).
Looove Donald Glover/Troy. He and Chevy get such amazing lines!
LOL! Didn’t watch it either. There was a re-run of the 2011 Emmy’s and I think I OD’ed on soda and chocolate. My kitten hates me now. Strangely I can’t remember why but she’s been giving me the side-eye all day.
I don’t think it’s unusual either for younger people to go to work hung-over. Especially if other people can’t tell. So I’m not 100% pure he was even an alcoholic but if he FELT like it was a problem for him I’m so glad he stopped. How many 21 year olds would be that mature and insightful? I hate that Harry Potter fans are mad that he’s even talking about this. He is NOT Harry Potter but a human being being honest.
Yeah, he would have fit right in with many of the students where I went to college. Drinking nightly — enough to still be drunk in class the next day — was pretty rampant. I doubt if that many people were/are alcoholics, most eventually learn their limits vs. giving it up completely like Daniel did. I’m not knocking him, each person’s journey is different.
I love that he’s so out in the open with all this. I’ve read in numerous stories that he has a problem with alcohol. I’m not at all surprised that he came in for work still drunk from the night before- I know people who do that. I think it’s really impressive that it’s someone my own age who is being so upfront with this, and that he knew he had a problem and is dealing with it. He seems like a really mature guy, and I think this whole thing makes me like him more.
I kind of want to watch the woman in black… commericials for scary movies usually can give me nightmares haha. But this one looked decent, and I already looked up the plot so I know what to expect. Has anyone seen it? Was it any good?
i saw it, and it was terrifying. i also knew the basic plot for it, but still had the s*** scared out of me. people were shrieking in the theatre.
definitely recommend it, although you may have nightmared afterwards.
Ooooh. I think I’ll have to wait for it to come out on dvd and watch it in the morning or something then haha. I usually don’t like scary movies… but I like the idea of this one. Thanks!
SO GOOD. It took me about 20 minutes to stop seeing him as Harry Potter, but once I did – I totally didn’t anymore. (If that makes sense.) He has very successfully bridged the gap between Potter and Beyond.
Also, yes. Scared the shit out of me and the teenage girls I took to it. I can not WAIT to see it again!! Perfectly done amalgam of Victorian horror, Hammer creep factors, and modern scare tactics. Awesome.
Good for him for getting his sh*t together and managing to avoid the pitfalls that so many former child stars fall into. And now I really want to re-watch the Harry Potter movies to try and figure out which scenes he’s drunk in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U_q–OpYbA
Hopefully him realizing he had a problem will prevent him from becoming yet another “child actor” ravaged by drugs and booze…Hello Cracken, lookin’at you….
All the kids (the most famous ones) of the Harry Potter saga have grown up very well; Emma Watson is studying; Dan Rad has a good movie at the box office;and we don’t hear about them boozing or getting wasted on daily bases. Am I the only one who thinks it’s because they grew up very far from Hollywood? Very few hollywood young celebrities have grown up that good, with a success like that.
Growing up away from that certainly couldn’t have hurt! Maybe their parents were a bit more involved too- I’m not sure. But I’m impressed with the results.
mee too I think their parents were involved, but it seems they don’t have famewhore parents, can you imagine what could do DINA LOHAN for the half of the money of one of the HP leading actor??
I wasn’t the least bit surprised that he has another film out when he made this comment. Coincidence? I think not.
Anyway… the Harry Potter train has long come and gone and I’m glad that Dan and Emma are still quite active in the film industry. Rupert, where art thou?
Also Neville, who turned out hot. Where is Matthew Lewis?
Rupert’s made a few British films and done a lot of voice work. IMDB him. He’s working steadily, but not on giant Hollywood blockbusters. He doesn’t need the money or the fame, so he can do what he likes.
…I thought he said he was a private person. Pfft, could’ve fooled the hell out of me.
He must’ve attended Michael Landon’s school of method acting.
It’s great that he’s sober and doing well. What kind of sucks is everyone else trying to judge if he really qualifies as an alcoholic or if he’s just a kid who can’t hold his liquor. There is no drunk meter. If you show up to work hungover X amount of days you may be… it’s doesn’t work like that. It’s for him and him alone to decide. And it’s an unbelievably hard thing to say. I was 23 when admitted I was an alcoholic. And it doesn’t matter how many days I did or didn’t show up to work still drunk. I’m still an alcoholic. Everyone’s experience is different… How dare anyone else tell him he’s not. You don’t live inside his head. You know nothing about his rock bottom. If it was a problem for him, it was a problem. He addressed it. It’s hard. Good for him.
I agree completely with what you wrote, and thank you for doing so. Very brave.
could it be that with all that drink talk he’s just trying to move away from Harry Potter character? like he’s trying to show he wasn’t “good boy”? i also think if it’s true, good for him he’s so open about it
I think he’s a nice guy and all and I appreciate his honesty about his alcohol abuse, but doesn’t anyone else think he’s overrated as an actor? In the 10 years of Harry Potter he did not improve at all. He was the weak link IMO There were maybe two moments in all those movies where I was like, “Wow! That’s some good acting!”