Daniel Radcliffe calls himself fitness freak after beating alcoholism

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Daniel Radcliffe traded one addiction for another.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, the 36-year-old actor spoke about being “a fitness freak,” despite not “look[ing] like a person who would be” one.

“I’m pretty intense about it,” he explained. “I feel like I’m a cliché of a former alcoholic or anyone who had any kind of addictive personality and then switched that addiction to being about the gym.”

He explained that he “used to run on coffee and cigarettes all day,” but after he quit smoking he now gets by on just “coffee all day.”

Daniel Radcliffe in a black shirt standing in front of a black background.

Radcliffe shared how he traded an addiction to alcohol with an addiction to fitness. (Paul Mobley/NBC via Getty Images)

When speaking with British GQ in May 2011, Radcliffe, who rose to fame playing the titular character in all eight “Harry Potter” films, shared he went through a rough patch when filming the sixth installment of the film series, “The Half Blood Prince,” noting “complacency probably crept in a little” by that point.

“I became so reliant on [alcohol] to enjoy stuff,” he told the outlet at the time. “I’m actually enjoying the fact that I can have a relationship with my girlfriend where I’m really pleasant and I’m not f—ing up totally all the time.”

He further discussed his struggles with alcohol in February 2019 during an appearance on “The Off Camera Show” with Sam Jones.

Radcliffe explained he struggled with it in his late teens “when I was going out to places” and felt as if he was being “watched when you went into a bar” or a pub, but admitting “I think again it could have largely been in my head.”

Daniel Radcliffe at the New York premiere of "Half Blood Prince" in July 2009.

Radcliffe recalled drinking too much in his late teens. (Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

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“In my case the quickest way of forgetting about the fact that you’re being watched was to get very drunk,” he said. “And then as you get very drunk you become aware that people are watching more now because now I’m getting very drunk, so I probably drink more to ignore that more. It can affect your psyche.”

Nowadays, Radcliffe is a loving father to his 2-year-old son, whom he shares with his partner, actress Erin Darke, who he has been seeing since 2012.

The couple met while filming the 2013 movie, “Kill Your Darlings,” in which their characters share a romantic connection. When speaking with Entertainment Weekly in April 2019, Radcliffe said their origin story as a couple will “be a hell of a story to tell our kids one day.”

“Our characters are meeting and flirting with each other, so there is this kind of sweet record of us just meeting for the first time and flirting,” he told the outlet.

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Daniel Radcliffe and Erin Darke at the premiere of "Just in Time" on Broadway in April 2025.

Radcliffe met his partner, Erin Darke, while filming the 2013 movie, “Kill Your Darlings.” (Bruce Glikas/WireImage)

When speaking with The Wall Street Journal, he shared the sweet present Darke has given him for every holiday the past few years, which he called his “prized possession.”

“The first year after our son was born, I was looking through my phone at all the pictures I have of him and I was like, ‘Oh, man, it just makes me sad that these are all just on my phone,'” he said. “And so for the last few Christmases and birthdays, Erin has been getting hundreds of photos of him developed. I’ve divided the photos into two piles, which are ‘amazing photos’ and ‘life-changing photos.’ That box of photos of him would be my prized possession.”

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