I went to rehab three times after friends staged an intervention over daily boozing, says Harry Potter actor Tom Felton

HARRY Potter star Tom Felton, 35, has opened up about going to rehab three times after his friends staged an intervention over his daily boozing.

The star, who is known for his iconic role as Draco Malfoy in the film adaptations, discussed his substance abuse in his new memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard.

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Tom Felton has candidly opened up about his battle with daily boozingCredit: Getty

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The star is renowned for his role as Malfoy in Harry PotterCredit: Alamy
Tom candidly admits that he would “drink to escape” while in his mid-to-late 20s, and spent a lot of time at dive bars in LA, in a bid to “crave normality.”

He said: “I went from being not particularly interested 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.”

Opening up on his mental health at the time, the star explained that those close to him ended up having to stage an intervention.

His then-girlfriend and his manager stepped in to confront his drinking and Tom explained that it was his lawyer who made the biggest impact.

“My lawyer, whom I’d barely ever met face to face, spoke with quiet honesty,” Tom recalled, adding: “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.'”

It was after this that the star went to rehab in Malibu but he ended up fleeing the facility less than 24 hours later.

He then went to a second rehab but was kicked out after he was found in a girl’s room.

Tom went a third time a few years later after the “numbness returned” – a time he coins as an “important moment.”

He said: “I can honestly say it was 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.

“I am not alone in having these feelings. Just as we all experience physical ill-health at some stage in our lives, so we all experience mental ill-health too. There’s no shame in that. It’s not a sign of weakness.”

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Tom eventually went to rehab for a third time after the “numbness returned”Credit: PA