From Harry Potter and Die Hard to Shakespeare and Austen, everyone has their own favourite moments from the acting career of Alan Rickman, who died today at the age of 69. Here are some of our on and off screen highlights:
1. When he pranked Daniel Radcliffe on the set of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2. When he gave this excellent reason for taking the role of Gruber in Die Hard
“What the hell is this? I’m not doing an action movie,” Rickman told the Guardian about his reaction after reading the Die Hard script, going on to explain that it was the film’s progressive storyline that eventually won him over. “Every single black character in that film is positive and highly intelligent,” he said. “So, 28 years ago, that’s quite revolutionary, and quietly so.”
3. When he teased Jimmy Fallon for his show’s Rickman-off
After Benedict Cumberbatch and Jimmy Fallon ran a competition to see who could do the best Alan Rickman impression, Rickman appeared on the show:
4. When he kept Rupert Grint’s unflattering portrait of him
5. When he insisted he does not play villains (via John Sessions)
6. When he mocked himself in Galaxy Quest
7. And in Victoria Wood’s Sense and Sensibility spoof
8. When he went out on the campaign trail
Rickman calls himself a “card-carrying member of the Labour party”, while his friend Guardian editor Katherine Viner referred to him as “a compassionate Labour man to his core”. His wife, Rima Horton, was a Labour councillor for Kensington & Chelsea. In April 2015, they went out in support of the party together.
via @TeamPeterKyle
9. When he added high-stakes drama to tea-making
10. When he accepted his BAFTA for Robin Hood: A Prince of Thieves
“A healthy reminder to me that subtlety… isn’t everything.”
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