Daniel Radcliffe opened up about drinking to cope with fame as a teenager, and he says that he empathizes with stars like Justin Bieber who also struggled with growing up in the spotlight.
"There is no blueprint for starting young and working stuff out," Radcliffe said during an interview with Sam Jones for the latest episode of "Off Camera." "That's why whenever people are having a go at Justin Bieber drag racing cars or whatever, I'm always like, 'Yeah, but you never know. Stuff could be super crazy for him right now.'"
Bieber rose to fame after being discovered by Scooter Braun and releasing an EP that featured "One Time" and "One Less Lonely Girl." He's had several run-ins with the law over the years. This includes pleading guilty to charges of careless driving and resisting arrest and being put on probation for a vandalism conviction in 2014.
Radcliffe, who was a child when he first starred as the titular character in the "Harry Potter" films, explained that he later turned to alcohol to cope with being recognized in public.
"There is an awareness that I really struggled with, particularly in my late teens when I was going out to places for the first time, where you would feel — again, it could have largely been in my head — you would feel watched when you went into a bar, when you went into a pub," Radcliffe said. "In my case, the quickest way of forgetting about the fact that you're being watched was to get very drunk."
The 29-year-old actor went on to say that getting drunk resulted in people paying even more attention to him, which then caused him to "drink more to ignore that more."
"It can affect your psyche," he added.
Read more: Daniel Radcliffe explained why he 'never felt cool' playing Harry Potter
Radcliffe said that he also had added pressure "to be delighted all the time" and felt that because he was famous and wealthy, he didn't "have the right to ever feel sad or to not be excited about the whole thing all the time."
The "Miracle Workers" star said that "it took a few years and it took a couple of attempts" before he stopped drinking.
Radcliffe said that he was "lucky" to meet some actors and other friends who also helped him avoid a downward spiral. He added that he's also "much happier now."
"Even at the lowest point, I still loved my job so much and I still loved going to set," he said. "There was never a day where my own s--- would affect how I was on the set. There was never a point where I was like, 'Oh, I wish this hadn't happened to me. I wish I wasn't Harry Potter.' That just didn't happen."
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