Line #32 Creator/AlanRickman


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10	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alanrickman1.png]]
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12	->''"One of the sweetest, kindest, nicest and most incredibly smart men I've ever met. Prior to acting he’d been a graphic designer and he brought the considered, laser-like precision of that profession to his work."''
13	-->-- '''Creator/BrianCox''' on Rickman in his autobiography ''Putting the Rabbit in the Hat''
14
15	For someone who didn't play villains, he did it very, very well.
16
17	Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director, known for playing a variety of roles on stage and screen, often as a complex antagonist. After doing the standard English Man In Hollywood origin full of Creator/WilliamShakespeare, theatre and single-episode television spots, he managed to move over to the USA by serving his revenge cold as the Vicomte de Valmont (a very interesting man with some questionable morals) in ''[[Literature/DangerousLiaisons Les Liaisons Dangereuses]]'' on Broadway. He also starred in ''Film/TrulyMadlyDeeply'', a cultured version of ''Film/Ghost1990''. Then his first big screen role was the [[LikableVillain lovable]] Hans Gruber in ''Film/DieHard'', who set up a BatmanGambit in order to steal 600 million dollars in negotiable bearer bonds. He had to kill a few people to get the money, which was certainly not very nice, but he did so with memorable BondOneLiner[=s=], and personally [[ThrowItIn ad-libbed the infamous]], "Mr. Takagi did not see it that way ... so he won't be joining us for the rest of his life." To this day, Hans is still regarded as one of the greatest villains in movie history.
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19	There is also [[LargeHam the pantomime villain]] Sheriff of Nottingham in ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', who proved to be a better thief than [[Creator/KevinCostner that Costner fellow]] by stealing every scene he was in, not even considering the money he raked in taxes. Deliciously villainous and by far the most interesting character in the movie.
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21	Also, while Severus Snape in the ''Film/HarryPotter'' films is meant to be a NominalHero with a [[JerkassWoobie not-so-happy past]], for some reason people kept feeling sorry for him, instead seeing Rickman's Snape [[TheWoobie as a normal guy who just needed a hug]] -- as well as feeling [[DracoInLeatherPants a few other things]].
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23	He also played Eliot Marston in ''Film/QuigleyDownUnder'', as well as Judge Turpin in Creator/TimBurton's 2007 film adaptation of ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''. Regardless of these roles, there were plenty of clearly not villainous, still very interesting roles that he had performed.
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25	He played, of all things, a painter named Ed in 1989's ''The January Man''. He played the lead in ''Mesmer'', the 1994 {{biopic}} about pioneering hypnotist Franz Anton Mesmer. He played Colonel Brandon in the 1995 film adaptation of ''Film/SenseAndSensibility''. He was the {{Metatron}}, the angel people are really speaking to when they claim to speak to God,[[note]]Or they're just talking to themselves.[[/note]] in 1999's ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' (being on fire in his first on-screen appearance is certainly interesting), a role which he took after being a fan of Creator/KevinSmith's ''Film/ChasingAmy'' but with one strict condition: don't change anything in the script. In 1999 he starred in ''Film/GalaxyQuest'', where he played a Shakespearean actor slumming it in sci-fi. In 2003, he appeared in ''Film/LoveActually'' playing a caring yet utterly deadpan office boss who may or may not have had an affair with his assistant. He was the voice of Marvin in the film version of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005''. He also played UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan in ''[[Film/TheButler Lee Daniels' The Butler]]''.
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27	Further, Rickman [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw6Swr-ME40 recited poetry.]] ''[[InsistentTerminology Very interesting]]'' poetry. And he made [[http://io9.com/5935919/alan-rickman-is-awesome-even-when-hes-making-tea-in-extreme-slow+motion tea]] in a ''very interesting'' way.
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29	He and Katherine Viner, then editor of UsefulNotes/{{British newspaper\|s}} ''The Guardian'', compiled the one-woman play ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie'' out of the letters, emails, and journals of the title character; it was first staged in 2005. He directed two films, ''Theatre/TheWinterGuest'' (1997, adapted from the 1995 play) and ''Film/ALittleChaos'' (2014).
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31	A classic anecdote told by John Sessions on ''Series/{{QI}}'', as seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc3OyvbJkj4&t=2m13s here]] described Alan's view on his roles.
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33	The world expressed collective sorrow to learn of Rickman's passing from pancreatic cancer, at the age of 69, on January 14, 2016. That was only four days after the loss of another British icon, Music/DavidBowie.
34	----
35
36	!!Notable film credits:
37	* ''Film/DieHard'' (1988) -- Hans Gruber
38	* ''Film/TheJanuaryMan'' (1989) -- Ed
39	* ''Film/QuigleyDownUnder'' (1990) -- Elliot Marston
40	* ''Film/TrulyMadlyDeeply'' (1991) -- Jamie
41	* ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' (1991) -- The Sheriff of Nottingham
42	* ''Film/BobRoberts'' (1992) -- Lukas Hart III
43	* ''Film/SenseAndSensibility'' (1995) -- Colonel Brandon
44	* ''Film/MichaelCollins'' (1996) -- Éamon de Valera
45	* ''Film/JudasKiss'' (1998) -- Detective David Friedman
46	* ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' (1999) -- {{Metatron}}
47	* ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' (1999) -- Sir Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus
48	* ''WesternAnimation/HelpImAFish'' (2000) -- Joe (voice)
49	* ''Film/HarryPotter'' -- [[Characters/HarryPotterSeverusSnape Professor Severus Snape]]
50	** ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' (2001)
51	** ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' (2002)
52	** ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' (2004)
53	** ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' (2005)
54	** ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' (2007)
55	** ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' (2009)
56	** ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallowsPart1'' (2010)
57	** ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallowsPart2'' (2011)
58	* ''Film/LoveActually'' (2003) -- Harry
59	* ''Film/{{The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy\|2005}}'' (2005) -- Marvin the Paranoid Android (voice)
60	* ''Film/SnowCake'' (2006) -- Alex Hughes
61	* ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' -- Judge Turpin
62	* ''Film/{{Alice in Wonderland\|2010}}'' (2010) -- Absolem the Caterpillar (voice)
63	** ''Film/AliceThroughTheLookingGlass'' (2016)
64	* ''Film/TheButler'' -- UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan (2013)
65
66	!!When Alan saw the breadth of his article, he wept, for there were no more tropes to conquer:
67	* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: He tended to have an odd cadence with some of his lines, which only made him even more intimidating.
68	* CharacterTic: In his villainous roles, he has a habit of lunging at people, usually planting his hands on the wall or chair behind them or the table in front of them and delivering a menacing one-liner with his face inches from whoever he's talking to.
69	** In ''Film/DieHard'':
70	*** ''"I am an ''exceptional'' thief, Mrs. [=McClane=], and since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite!"''
71	** In ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'':
72	*** ''"Tell me where Hood is ... or we'll string you all up and find him anyway!"''
73	** In ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', all together now:
74	*** ''"Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter. Loss of limb will not excuse you. Page three hundred and ninety-four."''
75	** And in ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'':
76	*** ''"Mark me boy, if I see your face on this street again, you'll rue the day you were born."''
77	* ChronicallyKilledActor: A part of being a villain is that you're probably going to be dead by movie's end.
78	* ClassicallyTrainedExtra: His character in ''Film/GalaxyQuest''. Averted in real life as he quite seemed to enjoy being action villains and snarky wizards and never saw them as less deserving of respect or effort than his stage roles.
79	* ColdHam: He could chew scenery while barely raising his voice or changing his facial expression, particularly as Snape.
80	* DeadpanSnarker: He was an absolute master at this trope, particularly when playing villains. Few actors could sell withering sarcasm and ill-tempered cynicism as well.
81	* DramaticPause:
82	** Was ... a ... big ... ''fan''. To the point Creator/JKRowling admitted writing Severus Snape's dialogue in the later ''Potter'' books with Rickman's ... ''cadence'' in mind.
83	** Exemplified in his portrayal of Snape in ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallowsPart2''.
84	--->"E ... ''[{{beat}}]'' ... qually ... guilty."
85	* EvilBrit: Another reason he was often cast as a villain, he played this trope exceedingly well.
86	* EvilIsHammy: When the situation called for it, his villains could ''really'' chew the scenery and gloriously so.
87	* EvilSoundsDeep: In many of his roles. Directors really loved making use of his magnificent, silky voice.
88	* FauxAffablyEvil: His villainous characters had his incredible charisma and magnetism and a very dry wit and were pure evil underneath.
89	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: When he wasn't playing villains, he often played these types of roles, men whose snark, cynicism and general misanthropy hid a kind side that the audience got to see as the story went on.
90	* LargeHam: In addition to being [[RunningGag very interesting people]], his roles also frequently tended to be this.
91	----
92	->''"[[Literature/HarryPotter After all this time?]]"''
93	->''"... [[TearJerker/HarryPotter Always.]]"''

Context Creator / AlanRickman