Daniel Radcliffe has admitted being Harry Potter made him hit the bottle.
The boy wizard actor fell under the spell of the demon drink while starring in one of world’s top film franchises.
Daniel, 30, said people’s amusement at seeing Harry Potter getting drunk in a bar made him booze more.
He said it was made worse towards the last of the eight-film series by the fear of not knowing what to do next.
When asked how he dealt with the scrutiny, he told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs: “I think badly at first.
"If I went out and if I got drunk I’d suddenly be aware of there being interest in that because it’s not just a drunk guy, it’s ‘Oh Harry Potter’s getting drunk in the bar’.
“That carries some kind of interest for people and also a slightly mocking interest. It’s inherently funny for people.”
He said he did not like how that felt but “the way of dealing with that is just to drink more or get more drunk, so I did a lot of that for a few years”.
He did not know if he drank because of his nature or because of the circumstances he was in.
He said: “A lot of drinking that happened towards the end of Potter and for a little bit after it finished, it was panic a little bit, not knowing what to do next. Not being comfortable enough in who I was to remain sober.”
Daniel took on daring stage roles such as appearing naked in Equus in 2007 in London and New York.
The star, who quit drinking in 2010, also told Desert Island host Lauren Laverne he feels he has to prove he is a nice guy and “not awful” when he meets new people.
Daniel, who appeared in the movies with fellow child actors Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, praised his parents and the others on set for giving him “enough perspective on my life and help me at key moments”.
He loved being on set, but said it can be huge problem if a young actor starts filming on a long-running franchise then stops enjoying it.
He said: “They are by that point the breadwinner for their family.
“So multiple people are now reliant on them continuing to do this job and they feel pressured into it and forced into it.
“I think that’s why you can see people go to drink and drugs because it is fun and they’re available and it seems like a good idea.
“There’s nobody around you talking about the consequences or being honest with you about that.”
Among the discs chosen by Daniel were Morecambe and Wise singing Bring Me Sunshine, Joanna Newsom’s Emily and Attaboy by Yo-yo Ma, Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer. His luxury was pen and paper and his book the Norton Anthology of Poetry.
- Desert Island Discs is on Radio 4 tomorrow - Sunday - at 11.15am.
