Over the past few weeks we’ve shared interviews conducted with Dan Radcliffe where he’s shared some surprising revelations and interesting commentary.
While we’ve all enjoyed reading them, a writer at the Washington Post has become fed up and thinks he needs to grow up.
In a desperate attempt to outgrow his lifelong association as the Boy Wonder of Hogwarts Academy, Daniel Radcliffe has been trying desperately to revamp his image lately. But he’s rapidly becoming too cool for school.
Last summer, Radcliffe revealed to the British press that he’d given up drinking after a longstanding battle with alcohol. Fair enough. Although it was disconcerting to imagine Harry Potter downing anything more than butterbeer, lots of child stars struggle with substance abuse problems at an early age, even if the kids on the set of Harry Potter were thought to have coped better with the dual exigencies of fame and childhood than the likes of Lindsay Lohan.
But recently, Radcliffe went into TMI overdrive, telling the Daily Mail about how he’s had sex with fans, sometimes while under the influence. (Again, one thinks back to that first kiss with Cho Chang and shudders at the thought.)
So what gives?
The conventional wisdom is that the actor is trying to get viewers to take him seriously as an adult in his new horror film, “The Woman in Black.” Because of the unbridled success of the Harry Potter film franchise, Radcliffe reportedly fears that people may never be able to imagine him as anything but “the boy who lived.”
And so he’s pulling anything and everything out of that dirty laundry basket that no doubt sits (in classic post-adolescent fashion) in his bedroom to prove that he’s a man.
We are in agreement with the writer, but after growing up with Radcliffe we also think he’s very down to earth and simply feels he can be more honest now than he could when he was younger.
Read more of the writer’s reasoning over on the Washington Post.
What do you think? Has he stepped out of line?
UPDATE: In light of our readers questioning the Daily Mail remark, below (thanks to Hannah) is the exact quote from Radcliffe that the Mail’s article was based on:
Q: Did you sleep with loads of groupies?
A: Not at all. I was always very nervous about the groupie thing. I like to like somebody before I sleep with them, I really do. You know you’re going to have to talk to them afterwards, even if it is a one-night stand. I have… I mean that has happened, but generally speaking I’ve known the person. Someone once said to me, “You can go outside and pick from the girls at the stage door.” And I said, “No, that’s not me.” [Stops.] Because, to do that, you kind of have to be a dick.
So, Radcliffe did willingly admit halfway through the response that he may have slept with girls who are fans. The Washington Post’s complaint was not unfounded like some in the comments suggested. Whether The Daily Mail is a typically legitimate news source or not, their quote was real.