Daniel Radcliffe Calls for Therapy To Be Required for Every Child Actor

Daniel Radcliffe is speaking out about the mental health of child actors and why the entertainment industry needs to do more. In a recent interview on Bustle’s One Nightstand podcast, he said therapy for young performers should not be optional or something only a few lucky kids get.

“The illusion that child stars are living a perfect dream can be crushing behind the scenes, which is exactly why therapy should be built into the system,” Radcliffe explained. The actor, who became famous at age 11 with the Harry Potter movies, said he understands the pressures of growing up in the public eye.

He pointed out that the world often assumes young stars are living the dream with fame and money, but that idea can make children feel alone and afraid to admit they are struggling.

Radcliffe shared a tragic story of a fellow child actor who took their own life because they felt their problems didn’t matter compared to their success. He said he was lucky to have a supportive group of adults around him during his early career, but that kind of safety was more about luck than rules or policies.

“In the 2000s in England, no one was thinking that way,” he said, reflecting on how the industry wasn’t set up to protect young actors’ mental health back then. Now, Radcliffe wants therapy to be a normal part of a child actor’s life from the start. He said, “Start therapy before you need it,” instead of waiting until things spiral out of control.

Outside of talking about mental health, Radcliffe is busy with his acting career. He recently won a Tony Award for his performance in Merrily We Roll Along and is performing in the interactive solo play Every Brilliant Thing at the Hudson Theatre, which runs through May 24.

He has also been working on TV and film projects. Radcliffe appeared in the NBC comedy series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins and is set to star in the upcoming war thriller Trust the Man with Lucas Hedges.

While he isn’t involved in the new Harry Potter TV reboot on HBO, he has shared support for the young cast, even writing letters to the actors stepping into the roles he made famous. Radcliffe’s message is clear: child actors need mental health support, and it should be a standard part of the industry, not a rare privilege.

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