Photo: REX USA/David Fisher/Rex.Type any phrase into Google and you'll see a list of suggested searches generate. Enter "how do you" and a diverse — and quite strange — collection of potential results queues up. ("Get pink eye" and "take a screenshot on a mac" rank high.) For Daniel Radcliffe, an Internet search often means confronting discussions about his personal life. Such is the life of a celebrity. Yet, he finds some of the terms particularly troubling.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, the actor shared a few of the phrases that tend to follow his name in that menacing search bar. “Daniel Radcliffe alcoholic. Daniel Radcliffe gay. Daniel Radcliffe girlfriend,” he told reporter Tim Jonze. Though, he also mentioned that "gay" comes up after nearly every male celebrity — and sometimes for women, too.
Even though Jonze assured him "girlfriend" was the top result these days, Radcliffe wasn't too bothered by the rumors about his romantic leanings. "If people are speculating about your sexuality, then you’re doing okay,” he said. And, he added, Googling yourself too often "fucks you up. You shouldn’t be on there if you’re an actor." His feelings about the Internet tool are best summed up by a line from The Thick Of It: "'Googling yourself is like opening the door to a room full of people telling you how shit you are' — and it’s exactly that. I first did it in my late teens and it was such a destructive thing for me to do.”
Even though Radcliffe has been in the public eye since he was 10, it seems he hasn't fully adjusted to the idea of being fodder for digital conversation. But, at least he has achieved a certain amount of indifference toward the content of those conversations. Check out the full interview, then you're free to resume Googling yourself. (The Guardian)