I’m not a philosopher stoned
Daniel Radcliffe says people always amazed he is not more messed up
WHEN Daniel Radcliffe hit the bottle while filming Harry Potter, it seemed the child star curse had struck again.
But he got back on the rails and stayed there as firmly as the Hogwarts Express.
And after reaching 32 last week he reveals people are always amazed he isn’t more “messed up”.
“I was very aware early on people have very low expectations of what I’ll be like,”
he says. “Which is great because hopefully you always exceed them. Once I was having dinner with the director of photography on a film and I told some weird story about a thing that happened to me in a kind of light, amused way.
“When I got to the end, the DP looked at me and went, ‘How are you not more messed up?’ It’s a reaction that does happen and I don’t really have a satisfying answer for people.”
While child stars like Macaulay Culkin and Justin Bieber have struggled with addictions, arrests and family fallouts, Daniel has avoided scandals, quitting booze in 2010 and is in a steady relationship with actress Erin Darke, 36.
He attributes his level-headedness to literary agent dad Alan and casting director mum Marcia Gresha.
He says: “I have parents supportive of me but who also asked me between every film, ‘Are you still having fun? You do know you don’t have to do this?’
“And I was like, ‘I really want to do this, I hate school so much.’ I was conscious of the stereotype of child actors, and they didn’t want to be pushy parents.”