One of the most complex characters in Harry Potter is Severus Snape. We often experience him as a mean teacher – but in the end he is on the right side. In order to be able to play it believably, actor Alan Rickman was even given secret insider information.
Who is Alan Rickman? The British actor and director made his breakthrough in the film industry with his first feature film Die Hard (1988) in the role of the terrorist Hans Gruber.
Before that, Rickman had already made a name for himself in the world of theater and in British TV productions.
In addition to Harry Potter, he can also be seen in numerous other well-known films. These include, for example, Robin Hood: King of Thieves (1991), Love Actually (2003), The Taste of Snow (2006), Perfume (2006) and Sweeney Todd (2007).
Alan Rickman died of cancer in 2016 at the age of 69.
Alan Rickman had his cinematic breakthrough in “Die Hard”:
Severus Snape – an ambivalent character
In the films, and especially the Harry Potter books, we usually experience Severus Snape as an extremely biased teacher. He only has anything left for his own house – Slytherin. Students from the hated Gryffindor house, on the other hand, are sometimes downright bullied.
So you could get the idea that Snape is a classic villain. Especially in the last part, however, we learn more about his background and it becomes clear: Snape is actually on the right side of the wizarding war.
In order for such a “revelation” to appear credible to the viewer, the new knowledge must of course fit in with what has been shown so far. This can be a big challenge, especially for the actors. If you don’t know a character’s background, you can’t portray them subtly.
What did the actors know? The first film – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – was released in 2001. Filming began in October 2000. At that time only the first four books of what would later become a seven-part book series were on the market.
So most actors only had this knowledge at their disposal. However, since Snape’s background is only examined in more detail in the seventh part, most people were not aware of it when filming began.
Secret keeper from day one
It was different with Alan Rickman. In order to be able to embody his role as Snape in the best possible way, he received crucial information from author JK Rowling when filming the first film.
However, he kept what information exactly that was secret until his death.
She [J.K. Rowling] gave me a tiny piece of information that I have always said I would never share with anyone and never have and never will.
– Alan Rickman (via independent)
Also in his diaries, which were published in 2023 under the title Madly, Deeply: My Diaries. Published as a book from 1993 to 2015, he vaguely describes his knowledge as “a few insights into Snape’s background”.
Was the secret ever revealed? Fortunately, exactly what information Rickman had at his disposal will not remain a secret forever. Shortly after the actor’s death in January 2016, JK Rowling decided to enlighten fans:
“I told Alan what the word “always” means.” (via Twitter)
For die-hard Potter fans, this one word, better known in the original English “always,” tells you everything you need to know.
One word says more than a thousand words
What does “always” mean? The quote comes from a scene in the last part. There we learn that Snape is still attached to Harry’s late mother, Lily Potter. To her, Snape was trying to protect Harry all these years. To Dumbledore’s question “After all this time?” he only answers “Always”.
This moment represents a crucial turning point in the perception of Snape. Here we learn that Snape’s main motivation throughout all these years was still his almost obsessive love for Lily.
How did this affect the films? So it makes sense that Rowling decided to share this information with Alan Rickman. If you watch the films again, you can see how Rickman was able to subtly incorporate this knowledge into his acting.
Even when he looks at Harry for the first time, there is much more to his gaze than mere hatred.
Rickman also refused to play scenes that in retrospect would not have fit the character. For example, producer David Hayman reported in the LA Times:
It was also quite amusing because there were moments where a director would tell Alan what to do in a scene and he would reply something like, “No, I can’t do that – I know what’s going to happen, and not you.”
All in all, trusting Alan Rickman with this little piece of information was probably a very good decision. The films benefited from this, and he kept the secret to himself until the end.
Things went differently for “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harington. The actor who played the character of Jon Snow once revealed a big series secret to avoid getting a speeding ticket: Kit Harington revealed a big secret from Game of Thrones – didn’t get a speeding ticket for it