Harry Potter star reveals alcoholism and rehab battles in new memoir

Harry Potter star reveals alcoholism and rehab battles in new memoir

Harry Potter actor Tom Felton has opened up about his issues with alcoholism and rehab in his new tell-all memoir.

The actor, best known for playing protagonist Draco Malfoy, shares the darker experiences of being a childhood actor in the new book entitles “Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard”.

In an excerpt published by People, Felton wrote: “I went from being not particularly interested [in drinking] to regularly having a few pints a day before the sun had even gone down, and a shot of whiskey to go with each of them.”

“The alcohol, though, wasn’t the problem. It was the symptom. The problem was deeper,” he added.

As his habit grew out of control, those around him staged an intervention, which included his lawyer, who knew a thing or two about the cost of alcohol and drug abuse.

“My lawyer, whom I’d barely ever met face to face, spoke with quiet honesty,” Felton wrote. “‘Tom,’ he said, ‘I don’t know you very well, but you seem like a nice guy. All I want to tell you is that this is the seventeenth intervention I’ve been to in my career. Eleven of them are now dead. Don’t be the twelfth.’

Felton eventually got treatment for his addiction, calling it“one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make.”

“But the very fact that I was able to admit to myself that I needed some help – and I was going to do something about it – was an important moment. I am no longer shy of putting my hands up and saying: I’m not okay,” he wrote.