Daniel Radcliffe has revealed that he stopped drinking alcohol in 2010 because “it was not making me as happy as I wanted it to" in the Comments First section in The Mirror.

Daniel RadcliffeDaniel Radcliffe - The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Cort Theatre

The Harry Potter actor, who is making a name for himself on the stage rather than for his wizarding fame notoriety, turned to drinking when the pressures of fame and failure became all too real. “I would have benefited from not drinking as it was not making me as happy as I wanted it to,” he said.  

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“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?’” he added. 

In an interview with Shortlist magazine in 2012, the Fulham-born actor admitted that drinking had been "unhealthy and damaging to my body and my social life" before he gave it up in 2010. 

Radcliffe’s career blossomed when he played JK Rowling’s infamous creation; over 8 films, the Potter brand became the most successful British film franchise of all time, but that doesn’t mean its star is still only known as the boy who lived, but for his extensive work on the stage, too.

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“People don’t shout Harry Potter at me now, they tend to know my name, which is lovely... (but) I always will credit the opportunities I get to Harry Potter. I would not be a happy person if I was bitter about those 10 years of my life,” he said.