Daniel Radcliffe is worlds away from Harry Potter. The 36-year-old actor is now a dad waking up early to workout and indulges in football – not soccer.
In a recent conversation with WSJ Magazine, the The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins actor opened up about becoming a “fitness freak” and how raising his kids in the U.S. has changed him.
Before marrying wife Erin Darke and becoming a dad to son, Daniel’s morning routine looked much different. “I used to run on coffee and cigarettes all day, and then I gave up smoking,” he explained. “Now I just run on coffee all day.”
© Getty ImagesErin and Daniel met on set and have been together ever since
These days, the actor is much more focused on his son and his own well-being.
“I have a small child, so my body has trained to wake up at about 5:30,” Daniel told WSJ. “My son has a night-light where you can program it to turn a different color at a certain time, so at 6:30 it will flick from blue to yellow and I will hear him scream, ‘It’s yellow, COME GET ME!’”
Daniel is all grown up now
This discipline – getting up early to be a parent – has bled over into his physical life too. “I do weights, circuit training, cardio,” the Merrily We Roll Along actor said. “I don’t look like a person who would be a fitness freak, but I’m pretty intense about it. 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.”
It’s clear to anyone with eyes that Daniel’s “fitness freak” attitude has worked well for him. 15 years after the last Harry Potter film premiered, Daniel is buff and worlds away from the franchise that made him a household name.
He was just 12 when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone came out, with the rest of the series transforming his life. Many child stars are worn down by the extreme fame Daniel experienced. But he seems to have handled it well.
© Getty ImagesThe actor won a Tony for his performance in Merrily We Roll Along
“People often talk about me, Rupert [Grint] and Emma [Watson] and the Harry Potter kids in general as being a good example of, ‘See, it can all be fine,’” he told WSJ. “And yes it can be, but we all worked really hard on ourselves to make it fine. I honestly wouldn’t want my son to act or to become famous. The thing for me that was the biggest difference-maker was I loved being on set.”
These days, he is starring alongside The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins alongside comedic legend Tracy Morgan.
© Getty ImagesWhile he and his wife keep their son’s life private, they did take him to the picket line in New York City during the SAG-AFTRA strike
“My character in the show is English and not interested in American football, so I’m kind of having to play dumb,” Daniel said. “I’m a big Fantasy Football person, so Monday morning is normally consoling myself with how badly Sunday has gone. But, I would love it if the show does well and we can get some real football players to come in over the next couple of years.”
