Harry Potter star Jason Isaacs says the young cast drank ‘at an industrial pace’

'When they were 18, we treated them like they still weren’t allowed to smoke or drink'

Isaacs played the role of Lucius Malfoy in the franchise, which turned Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint into household names.

With these three having been cast in their now-iconic roles when they were just kids, by the time the final films came out they were all adults.

In a recent interview with the New York Post, Isaacs explained what it was like working with the younger cast as they grew up.

He said: “It was always strange going back to the films, where they were a couple years older than the last time I saw them, and I would treat them how they had been previously.

“So, treating a 14-year-old like a 12-year-old wasn’t great."

Isaacs continued: “And, when they were 18, and we treated them like they still weren’t allowed to smoke or drink — and, they were doing both at an industrial pace — that was odd.”

Radcliffe has previously spoken about the amount he was drinking to cope with the fame of being Harry Potter.

He told Off Camera back in 2019 that the "quickest way to forget about the fact you're being watched is to get very drunk."

The actor, who has been sober since 2010, continued: “And then as you get very drunk, you become aware that ‘Oh, people are watching more now because now I’m getting very drunk, so I should probably drink more to ignore that more.’”

During an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Radcliffe revealed that "a lot of drinking that happened toward the end of Potter and for a little bit after it finished."

He said this was due to "panic" and "not being comfortable enough in who I was to remain sober."

Tom Felton, who played Isaacs's on-screen son Draco Malfoy in the films, has also previously opened up about his struggles with alcohol.

In his 2022 memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, he wrote that drinking got to "the point where I would think nothing of having a drink while I was working."

He added: "I’d turn up unprepared, not the professional I wanted to be. The alcohol, though, wasn’t the problem. It was the symptom.”

Felton revealed that in the end his agents and managers staged an intervention and made a plan to send him to rehab.

More than 12 years after the release of the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Isaacs is still in touch with his former colleagues and speaks to Felton "all the time."

Addressing questions about whether it's weird seeing his former co-stars all grown up, Isaacs said: “I saw Rupert recently, and they looked incredibly happy.

“I speak to Tom all the time; he doesn’t have kids yet. I know Dan (Radcliffe) is a dad.

“How do I feel about it? They’re all men and women, and very accomplished in whatever field they are, and it’s always lovely to see them.” 

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