Everyone assumes Daniel Radcliffe to be a sweet geeky guy. Basically, people think he’s Harry Potter. But he isn’t, he’s his own person.

In an interview with Heat magazine, Radcliffe admitted to some of his demons while shooting the latest Harry Potter films. ”I have a very addictive personality. It was a problem. People with problems like that are very adept at hiding it. It was bad. I don’t want to go into details, but I drank a lot and it was daily – I mean nightly,” Radcliffe said to the British magazine.

He wasn’t totally unprofessional though. He never drank on set. ”I can honestly say I never drank at work on ‘Harry Potter.’ I went into work still drunk, but I never drank at work. I can point to many scenes where I’m just gone. Dead behind the eyes,” Radcliffe said.

I have to say I’m tempted to go back to the last few movies to try to find the scenes where he’s dead in the eyes. But there’s a bigger problem here. The problem of Hollywood pressure on young actors. Radcliffe has had to endure that pressure for 11 years as Harry Potter.

He also talked about his production-assistant girlfriend, who he says is way too good for him.

“I can also be quite insecure. A lot of actors have self-doubt. I live under that the whole time, and it’s how I function best. I think she puts up with a lot; she says she doesn’t,” Radcliffe said.

You’d think being the spotlight of a mega-franchise like Harry Potter would do that to you. Radcliffe is now expanding beyond the franchise, getting rave reviews for his turn on Broadway and critics say his work in The Woman in Black, out today, is great too.

We often like to point to child actors and say how cute they are, but all that pressure and focus has to hurt them in someway, doesn’t it? [Reuters]

alcoholism, child actors, daniel radcliffe