Alan Rickman
I cannot believe we lost Alan Rickman 7 years ago. My last Potter marathon, I shed some extra tears for Robbie Coltrane, Though watching Snape, I've been shedding tears for Alan for years.
Like many, Alan Rickman was introduced to theater through school, though he actually went to college to pursue his artistic talents and ended up becoming a graphic designer for a time. Though I guess the call to the theater was too much, so the 70s saw an Alan Rickman fully committing to the life of an actor and studying his trade at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Most of his 30s would be dedicated to theater as he didn’t make an iconic on-screen breakout until he was about 42, but I'll talk about that in a second.
Leading up to said breakout role, he was in several plays. I can’t find a full list, but some of these plays include the Temptest Romeo and Juliet, Love’s Labor's Lost, the Seagull, & the Grass Widow. His most ground breaking on stage role at this time, however, was a play entitled Les Liaisons Dangereuses. This play was based on a pretty historical French novel written way back in the 18th century. Rickman performed this play at West End and reprised his role when it moved to Broadway in 1987, which saw Alan Rickman nominated for his first of 2 Tony awards.
The late 80s was a pinnacle turning point in Rickman’s career. Not only was he achieving great on stage success, but he was making it big on the big screen too. In 1988, Alan Rickman played the villain in the greatest Christmas of all time.... Don’t be daft, of course I’m not talking about Love Actually. I’m talking about his iconic portrayal of Hans Gruber in the 80's action classic - Die Hard. It is not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off Nakatomi Tower. Die hard is on of the greats action films of all time and Alan Rickman did such a good job playing the villain.
The 90s were equally successful. His next notable role would be that of the Sherriff of Nottingham in 1991’s Robin hood: Prince of Thieves,another iconic villain on his resume. He also portrayed the Rasputin in HBO’s Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny, receiving both a Golden Globe AND and Emmy for his stellar performance. He starred in Sense & Sensibility with his Potter co-star, Emma Thompson. I believe this was their first film of several projects aside from Potter that they worked together and they were good friends up until his passing. In fact, Rickman directed the play, the Winter Guest, as well as the film adaption a couple years later after Sense and Sensibility and casted Thompson as the main role. Rickman also had cult classic appearances, such as Dogma and Galaxy quest. Both highly enjoyable comedies.
Alan Rickman kicked of the 21st century with the role of Severus Snape....... you know, I'll have to save this for later.... Though around this time he did get a 2nd Tony nomination for the play, Private Lives, which as successful both in West End and Broadway. Other notable projects Alan Rickman took on in this first decade included a voice over role in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as the loveable Marvin, Emma Thompson’s husband, Harry, in the iconic Christmas film, Love Actually, and, drum roll......... Tim Burton’s film adaptation of Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Rickman portrayed Judge Turpin and co-starred with Grindelwald, young Grindelwald, Bellatrix, Pettigrew..... I meant he co-starred with Jack Sparrow, Vecna / Henry / 001..... wait that’s not right either. Ahhhhh yes: He was part of the purely phenomenal ensemble cast of Sweeney Todd along with Johnny Depp, Jaimie Campbell Bower, Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, and Sacha baron Cohen. One of my favorite experiences of all time period - Musical, film, Burton project, Burton-Depp collaboration, musical film adaptation, cast... just everything about this I love.
Thus begins the last several years of Alan’s incredible life. Alan Rickman was a part of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland duology, providing the voice of Absolem. He also appeared in the Butler as Ronald Reagan and CBGB as Hilly Kristal. His final roles on stage were in the plays John Gabriel Borkman and Seminar, performing Seminar on Broadway for a time. Rickman co-wrote, starred, and directed the film, A little chaos, which saw him reunite with Kate Winslet and Helen McCory. His final on screen performance was in a action drama film, Eye in the Sky, with Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul.
Alan Rickman died on January 14, 2016. Another death of a British icon due to cancer as David Bowie passed only a few days before for the same reason. In the days after his death, Harry Potter fans arrived at King’s Cross station and created a tribute memorial shrine in front of the 9 ¾ sign. This tourist destination became a place of remembrance for not just a legendary actor, but the Actor that portrayed Severus Snape for 10 years. There was a huge pile of flowers, notes, fan art. The word Always was just being flown everywhere I looked for weeks. In America, fans went to the Wizarding World at Universal Studios and raised their wands up for him in front of Hogwarts castle, as they would some day do for Robbie Coltrane as well... People also left tribute in front the potions classroom door.... which is seen in a line to a theme park ride. And I just spent this whole segment talking about his phenomenal career, but I had to save Snape for last for this reason.
Alan Rickman, at this point, will always be known as Snape. And while the fandom has split opinions of the character, we all loved Alan Rickman. And Alan was more than the characters he played; so many close to him spoke words of sadness and love about a man they saw as a dear friend. But his characters are the legacy he left behind. His career is the legacy he left behind. And there isn’t another character of his that belonged to a sensational cultural phenomenon that Harry Potter was. This is why the Potter fandom was the loudest paying tribute. Harry Potter is more than just a book or movie series, and the same can be said for so many other fandoms surrounding fictional universes and characters. Like JK Rowling once said, “stories we love best do live in us forever.” It’s the fans that make these fictional stories and characters real. And for someone like Alan Rickman, who just showed up to work and did his job, he managed to create such a big impact and the fans, we mourned his death like a we would mourn a family member.
So Alan, where ever you are: The people that knew you as Snape, the people that knew as some other on screen character, the people of the theater community, and the people that actually knew you and called you a friend – we will love and remember you..... always.
