Alan Rickman began his acting career on the stage of British theaters. He acted in plays based on texts by Shakespeare and Chekhov, but soon found himself on television. He played the role of Reverend Obadiah Slope in the BBC series “The Barchester Chronicles”. However, the breakthrough role in the actor’s career was Hans Gruber from “Die Hard”. The character is still listed on lists of the best villains of all time, and it is worth adding that this is Rickman’s debut in a feature film.
Alan Rickman had enough of playing in “Harry Potter”. He wanted to leave
Years later, in one of the interviews, the actor admitted that he almost didn’t accept the role with Bruce Willis. At that time, the actor did not think that “Die Hard” was a title in which he wanted to invest time. Interestingly, this is not the only iconic role of Rickman that the artist himself was not convinced about. Many viewers remembered the actor, who died in 2016, as Severus Snape, whom he played in all the films.
Rickman kept a diary until his death. The actor’s “Real, Crazy Diaries” were published in the form of a book in 2023, and from the publication we can learn, among other things, that Rickman had many reservations about the series about Hogwarts students, loved by millions of fans around the world. He had so many negative emotions that he wanted to leave the cast several times. “I repeated that I would never watch Harry Potter again. They didn’t want to hear it” – the actor’s website Wirtualna Polska.
Despite this, Snape is still one of the most characteristic characters from the Harry Potter film universe, and fans of the series cannot imagine anyone else in this role. JK Rowling, the author of books about the young wizard, convinced Rickman to stay on the set of the next parts of the film. The writer revealed to the actor that the reason behind his character’s great pain is, among other things, his love for Harry’s mother, Lily.
Alan Rickman changed one of the scenes in “Harry Potter”
However, Rickman tried to influence the final shape of the Potter films. In the 2009 production of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, the actor managed to convince the creators to change one of the key scenes. Snape once promised Draco Malfoy’s mother that he would protect her son. Just when Malfoy was about to kill Dumbledore, Snape appears and stops him. The creators wanted to emphasize the professor’s loyalty and included the line in the script: “I promised, I took an oath.” However, this ultimately does not happen in the film.
Alan Rickman insisted that the quote be removed from the script. According to the actor, it prolonged the scene unnecessarily and deprived it of proper rhythm and drama. In addition, the artist had doubts whether viewers remembered details of previous films. For those who did not note down the details, the issue could be unclear and confusing.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
