Alan Rickman Will Always Be In Our Hearts. Here’s A Heartfelt Tribute From A Fan

2016 was the year of deaths. Multiple celebrity deaths shook us. To name a few, Jason Wingreen (who voiced Boba Fett in Star Wars Episode V), Rajesh Vivek (Guran from Lagaan), and legendary rockstar David Bowie, passed away under the first fortnight of 2016. To add to that beloved actor Alan Rickman also left us, this date, last year.

He succumbed to cancer at the age of 69, in his hometown of London, on the 14th of January, 2016.

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Alan Rickman, born Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman, was born in Acton, West London, to housewife and factory worker parents. Second among four siblings, Alan lost his father at the very young age of 8 years. Few know that Alan Rickman wanted to be a graphic designer, and in that vein, he attended Chelsea College of Art and Design, where he met his future partner, Rima Horton. After graduating from the Royal College of Art, he went on to have a successful business in graphic design under the banner Graphiti.

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Fun fact: Alan Rickman didn’t start acting professionally until the age of 26.

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After 8 years, Alan finally thought to pursue acting full-time, and hence gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Alan has been a long-standing member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has also gone on to perform several plays throughout his career. Alan was known to turn down a lot of roles in movies, because he always felt the pull to return to stage acting. Alan has won several nominations and awards for both stage and film, and has been a very humble and supportive co-star to all of his colleagues, even though he has been known to play antagonists more often. In his own words, “I don’t play villains, I play very interesting people.”

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Alan was scared of performing a stunt which involved him jumping from a height of 20 feet onto an air bag.

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Alan Rickman first came to cinematic limelight when he was announced to play the role of Hans Gruber, against Bruce Willis, in Die Hard. While filming for Die Hard, Alan was found to be very good at mimicking an American accent, due to which a scene of Hans and John (Willis’ character) finally meeting was added in the movie. There is also a point in the movie where Hans falls from the top of a building. After being cajoled into believing it’s safe (which took director Kevin Costner to demonstrate the jump), Rickman was thrown by the stuntman at the count of 2, instead of 3, to get the genuine surprised/shocked look.

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The Severus Snape Era

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Some years later, Alan would be known to a larger, and younger, demographic of fans, as the favourite Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film franchise. Alan wasn’t chosen for the role until the last moment, when Tim Roth (who was the producer’s choice) didn’t take up the role. For his role, Alan later revealed that author J.K. Rowling had shared information about Severus Snape and his future in the story, so that his character would be more nuanced and stick to the plot that few others knew. Rowling had said in an interview that she modeled the character of Snape in the books with Alan Rickman in mind, which meant that the role was tailor-made for him.

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Alan Rickman and his many faces

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Among many memorable performances, Alan went on to become famous for his roles of the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply, Marvin the Paranoid Android (voice) in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Harry in Love Actually, Antoine Richis in Perfume: Story of a Murderer, Absolem the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland, and Judge Turpin in the film adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The last film in which he played a role will be Alice Through The Looking Glass, which will released in 2016, returning as Absolem the Caterpillar.

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In memoriam

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Harry Potter fans, Die Hard fans, and fans of the actor and his fine roles in general, the world over, were devastated upon hearing the news of Rickman’s demise. Devastated because he couldn’t live to enact it when he said, “When I’m 80 years old, I’ll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, ‘After all this time?’ And I will say, ‘Always.'” Devastated because that amazing baritone won’t ever be heard again, and we won’t ever be treated to that terrifying sneer.

Alan Rickman passed in the presence of family and friends. But he’ll be remembered in our hearts, ALWAYS. Like he said in a letter to Empire magazine, “It is an ancient need to be told in stories.”

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We raise our wands to thee, Lord Rickman of the Alan. Rest in peace.

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