Credit: Harry Potter Film Series
Alan Rickman is a legend. Among the most talented actors of all time, he will forever be remembered for his genius portrayal of every character he embraced. He will, perhaps, be remembered most for his role as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise. Alan Rickman played this role to perfection. As an avid reader, it’s easy to see Alan Rickman as the character. He’s even more Snape than Snape was in the books. His expressions. His voice. The way he used his body and his face to emulate the disdain Snape lives with – disdain we did not know really loved and sadness being masked into pain and hurt until the very end.
Alan Rickman’s death hit the world hard. He’s a legend, and his life was so well-lived. However, Alan Rickman’s private journals show a slightly different side of the beloved actor. Published in 2022 (the actor died in 2016), his private journals share the actor’s deepest and most private thoughts. Many of the people the actor worked with in his many years were shocked to learn what the late Rickman really thought.
Alan Rickman Almost Did Not Return for Final Harry Potter Movies
After the first four movies were filmed, Rickman learned that he was battling prostate cancer. He was diagnosed in 2005 but did not share his health battle. Rather, he kept it to himself and battled cancer privately. However, he was unsure for a time that he would return to his role as Severus Snape after playing the character in four movies. He did, though, and he played Snape to perfection while secretly fighting cancer.
According to his private journals, he was unhappy with his performance in the fifth movie, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” “I realize as soon as that Snape’s ring and costume go on – something happens. It becomes alien to be chatty, smiley, open. The character narrows me down, and tightens me up. Not good qualities on a film set. I have never been less communicative with a crew,” he said of filming while battling cancer that left him feeling less than amazing.
Credit: Harry Potter Film Series
Alan Rickman Wasn’t Always Happy With his Costars
In his journals, Alan Rickman is not always complimentary of his young costars while working on the Harry Potter set, but that doesn’t seem to bother the young stars. They were, after all, young children at the time who did need to learn a lot more before they’d reach the level of success as Rickman.
“The day got off to a fabulous start with the screen guillotining on to my head, a sudden, swift blackout followed by a day-long melancholy. Alfonso was quietly ballistic with me. I love him too much to let it last too long so I wailed offset and we sorted it out. He’s under the usual HP pressure and even he starts rehearsing cameras before actors, and these kids need directing. They don’t know their lines and Emma’s diction is this side of Albania at times. Plus my so-called rehearsal is with a stand-in who is French,” he wrote of working with the cast on “Prisoner of Azkaban” at the time.
Daniel Radcliffe Is Not Offended By Rickman’s Journals
He’s gone, and these are his private journals. Everyone has private thoughts they are absolutely entitled to have, and everyone is entitled to journal those. These are likely thoughts Rickman never intended to see the light of day, and he always treated his costars with respect and kindness. So, Daniel Radcliffe is not upset to read them.
“All of the stuff Alan wrote – it was very lovely and nostalgic reading. From his comments about us being ‘these kids need to learn their lines. It’s kind of a nightmare right now.’ All of that stuff though to us meeting when I was over here doing a plan and we met. It was very sweet to read all of that,” he said of the journals. Why should he be upset? He was never treated poorly by Rickman, and he doesn’t have sad memories.
It Was Snape’s Heroic Death and Love for Lily Potter that made Rickman Take the Role
At the end of the day, living with cancer and not having the strength and energy all the time is not an easy place to be. It’s why Rickman considered quitting his role and leaving it to someone else – which we are so thankful he did not.
Credit: Harry Potter Film Series
“I have finished reading the last Harry Potter book. Snape dies heroically. Potter describes him to his children as one of the bravest men he ever knew and calls his son Albus Severus. This was a genuine rite of passage. One small piece of information Jo Rowling seven years ago – Snaped loved Lily – gave me a cliff edge to hang on to,” he said in his journals. It was that small thing that made him want to come back and finish, even while battling a secret cancer diagnosis.Alan Rickman’s
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