Stories About Alan Rickman From Behind The Scenes Of 'Harry Potter'
Whether Snape was ultimately a good or bad guy is a matter of eternal debate, but one thing is for certain: the actor who played him was definitely a good guy, as these stories about Severus Snape behind the scenes prove. Well, not Snape, exactly, but acclaimed British actor Alan Rickman. On the set of Harry Potter, he brought his professional A-game, as well as an undeniable sense of fun and generosity. As the actors who worked with Alan Rickman have attested, he left a memorable and lasting impression on all fortunate enough to share the lens with him.
Rickman was already an award-winning, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art-trained stage and screen actor when he landed the role of Snape. By all accounts, he embraced the epic importance the role had for Harry Potter fans, but he also had a sense of humor and kindness about the whole thing. At his memorial service, actress Juliet Stevenson remembered, "Whenever Al would go out to supper, and anyone else would try and pay, he would somehow have phoned ahead or slipped his credit card ahead of the meal, so no one even got a look at the check. He'd just say, 'I've got two words for you: Harry Potter.' And he became known for doing that."
Rickman passed in January 2016 after battling pancreatic cancer. Let's revisit some behind-the-scenes stories of Alan Rickman on Harry Potter as a way to commemorate everyone's favorite potions master.
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He Offered Advice To The Young Actors
Rickman was aware firsthand that show business could be a rocky place to make a living, especially for young actors. A few of his co-stars have mentioned how he gave them career - and life - advice. Matthew Lewis (who played Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter) said, "He offered me some of the greatest advice I ever received about this mad profession we shared... He inspired my career more than he ever knew."
Devon Murray (Seamus Finnigan in HP) called Rickman his "role model." Sean Biggerstaff, who played Oliver Wood, tweeted, "He looked out for me for 20 years and I loved him."
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He Often Visited With Children On Set
Rickman was perhaps, in some regards, intimidating to his colleagues, but they were also quick to point out that he was exceedingly kind and giving. He would often chat with children who visited the sets of the Harry Potter films.
"Alan Rickman, pretty much every day of filming, he had a whole troop of little children [visiting]," Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) recalled. She continued:
It was the most bizarre scene to see Snape in this black robe, usually with, like, a bib on - we had to wear these bibs so we didn't ruin our costume - surrounded by all these happy little children who were just chatting away to him.
In the words of Rupert Grint, Rickman was "a great gentleman."
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He Listened To His iPod In Some Of The Great Hall Scenes
During some of the Great Hall scenes where Snape was seated at the head of the table, Rickman would sneak an iPod into his voluminous cape and listen to music during filming. "I could just see, sneaking behind his wig and down into his robes, the white wire of some iPod headphones," recalled actor Warwick Davis, who played Professor Flitwick.
He was just quietly listening to something, and I started to wonder, what does Alan Rickman as Professor Snape listen to on his iPod? An audiobook? Some Shakespeare? Some classical music? Europop? Some techno beats? I don’t know. I never did ask him, and I wish I had. I'd love to have known.
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He Made Sure A Child With Cancer Who Visited The Set Got To Be An Extra In One Of The Films
During the filming of Prisoner of Azkaban, a teenager named Jay who had a diagnosis of late-stage neuroblastoma visited the set. Rickman made certain the boy appeared in the movie. As producer Paula DuPré Pesman remembered:
[What Jay] really wanted was to be in the film, not just visiting. I said, "Well, we can't really do that, and you're already here." Alan came over and introduced himself to Jay, and Jay was so happy to meet him. He was really knowledgeable. He was about 15 at the time, and he knew a lot about Alan's other films, and Jay mentioned to Alan that what he really wanted to do was be in the film.
Alan looked at me, and he kind of went into his Snape-mode in costume, and said, "Why isn't this child in the film?" Everyone had a good laugh, and Alan took him by the hand and put him into the crowd of kids as they were panning across. The back of him is actually in a shot.
Jay stood in a scene of Prisoner of Azkaban during Professor Lupin's (David Thewlis) boggart class. While the scene ultimately did not make the cut for the big screen, Rickman's gesture was not lost on Jay.
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He Kept A Funny Sketch Of Himself Drawn By Rupert Grint During Filming
Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley in Harry Potter) was doodling caricatures while on set one day. As he was working on one of Rickman, Grint had no idea that Snape himself was looking over his shoulder. "I was so scared," Grint said, because in the sketch he had "exaggerated a few of his features." But Rickman was not upset in the slightest - the exact opposite, in fact.
"I made him sign it, and I have it in my possession," Rickman said proudly. "I'm very fond of it."
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He Played A Fart Joke On Daniel Radcliffe During Filming
During Prisoner of Azkaban, Rickman had some fun by pulling an epic prank on Daniel Radcliffe. The scene was a sleepover in the Great Hall, where Harry and his friends all had sleeping bags. Rickman, actor Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), and director Alfonso Cuarón hid a remote-controlled fart machine inside Radcliffe's sleeping bag, and they made certain it let out all sorts of unfortunate sounds at inconvenient times.
"I immediately thought: 'This is one of the other kids [messing] around, and we were going to get in trouble,'" Radcliffe later said. "But as it turns out, it was one of the members of Britain's acting royalty."
