Harry Potter star's drug addiction after getting hooked at 16 and binge drinking aged 12

Harry Potter stars are some of the most famous faces in the world - whether they found fame before the franchise or during, the limelight can be tough. From the chaotic exploits of Devon Murray (Seamus Finnegan) to Daniel Radcliffes battle with alcoholism, the actors in the series have battled their demons off-screen as much

Harry Potter stars are some of the most famous faces in the world - whether they found fame before the franchise or during, the limelight can be tough.

From the chaotic exploits of Devon Murray (Seamus Finnegan) to Daniel Radcliffe’s battle with alcoholism, the actors in the series have battled their demons off-screen as much as on it.

But there is one star who kept their drug addiction secret up until very recently before he spilled it all in an interview with The Big Issue.

READ MORE: Harry Potter: The famous actor who was cut from the film after being kicked off set for being too funny

In a letter to his younger self, Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) revealed he had a ten year love affair with drugs after struggling with drinking before he was even 16.

He said: “I’ve always had an addictive personality and by the age of 16 I’d already passed through drink and was started on a decades-long love affair with drugs."

He remembered the first time he got drunk aged 12 on Tottenham Court Road, vomiting before smashing his head on the road.

Despite this he continued to chase the “sheer ecstatic joy” for another 20 years.

Interestingly enough Isaacs has previously compared reading the Harry Potter series to crack cocaine when in 2009 he appeared on The Justin Lee Collins talk about J.K. Rowling’s novels.

He said: “I went off and read the books after the audition and I read the first four books in one sitting – you know – didn't wash, didn't eat, drove around with them on the steering wheel like a lunatic.

“I suddenly understood why my friends, who I'd thought were slightly backward, had been so addicted to these children's books. They're like crack."

Unfortunately though his famous role as Lucius Malfoy became limited to cameos in the final three films after that due to the character being imprisoned in the books.

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He even revealed at the time “I fell to my knees and begged” Rowling to write his character more of his character into the final novel, but she declined.

In a post last year the actor thanked every “addict and alcoholic who has ever lifted me up”, as he celebrated 22 years since the day he turned sober.

He added: “I'd tried for decades, but was too smart, too capable and too successful to pull it off. Only when I admitted that I needed help did my life change.”

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