History Creator / AlanRickman

-->-- '''Creator/BrianCox'' on the Rickman in his autobiography ''Putting the Rabbit in the Hat''

->''"As far as I'm concerned, I'm not playing 'the villain.' I'm just playing somebody who wants certain things in life, has made certain choices, and goes after them."''
-->-- On playing amoral mass-murdering corporate thief [[Film/DieHard Hans Gruber]]

Also, while Severus Snape in the ''Film/HarryPotter'' films is meant to be a [[JerkassWoobie sympathetic bastard with a 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]].

* ''Film/HarryPotter'' -- Professor Severus Snape

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 spots on the television, 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/{{Ghost}}''. Then his first big screen role was the lovable MagnificentBastard 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.

He also played Eliot Marston in ''Film/QuigleyDownUnder'', as well as Judge Turpin in the 2007 Creator/TimBurton film version of ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''. Regardless of these roles, there were plenty of clearly not villainous, still very interesting roles that he had performed.

He played, of all things, a painter named Ed in the 1989 ''The January Man''. He starred as the title hypnotist in a 1994 biopic ''Mesmer'' 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 ''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 ''Chasing Amy'' but which he took 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 2005 film version of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. He also played UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan in ''[[Film/TheButler Lee Daniels' The Butler]]''.

He also helped compile the one-woman play ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie'' out of the letters, emails, and journals of the title character. He directed two films, ''The Winter Guest'' and ''A Little Chaos''.

* ''WesternAnimation/HelpImAFish'' -- Joe (voice)

* BadassBaritone [=/=] EvilSoundsDeep: One of the reasons he was consistently chosen for villain roles was his deep voice.

* TheDreaded: In an amusing and unintentional way, he was this for Creator/JasonMewes during the filming of ''Film/{{Dogma}}''. When Creator/KevinSmith told Mewes that he was going to have to be on point throughout the filming because this movie was going to have experienced and well-respected actors and ''Alan Rickman was one of them'', Mewes took the filming so seriously that he not only memorized his lines, but everyone else's lines as well.

->''"... [[Tearjerker/HarryPotter Always.]]"''

--->"E ... [[''{{Beat}}'']] ... qually ... guilty."

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (February 21, 1946 – January 14, 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 spots on the television, 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/{{Ghost}}''. Then his first big screen role was the lovable MagnificentBastard 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.

* BadassBaritone: One of the reasons he was consistently chosen for villain roles was his deep voice.

* EvilSoundsDeep: See BadassBaritone above.

The world expressed collective sorrow to learn of Rickman's passing from pancreatic cancer, at the age of 69, on January 14, 2016.

-->-- on playing amoral mass-murdering corporate thief [[Film/DieHard Hans Gruber]]

For someone who didn't play villains, he was very, very good at it.

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (February 21, 1946 – January 14, 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 spots on the television, 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/{{Ghost}}''. Then his first big screen role was the lovable MagnificentBastard 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 {{Bond One Liner}}s, and personally 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.

There is also [[LargeHam the pantomime villain]] Sheriff of Nottingham in ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', who proved to be a better thief than 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.

He played, of all things, a painter named Ed in the 1989 ''The January Man''. He starred as the title hypnotist in a 1994 biopic ''Mesmer'' 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 ''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 ''Chasing Amy'' but which he took 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 2005 film version of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. He also played UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan in ''[[Film/TheButler Lee Daniels' The Butler]]''.

* ''Film/DieHard'' (1988) - Hans Gruber
* ''Film/QuigleyDownUnder'' (1990) - Elliot Marston
* ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' (1991) - The Sheriff of Nottingham
* ''Film/BobRoberts'' (1992) - Lukas Hart III
* ''Film/SenseAndSensibility'' (1995) - Colonel Brandon
* ''Film/MichaelCollins'' (1996) - Éamon de Valera
* ''Film/JudasKiss'' (1998) - Detective David Friedman
* ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' (1999) - Metatron
* ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' (1999) - Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus
* ''Film/HarryPotter'' - Professor Severus Snape

* ''Film/LoveActually'' (2003) - Harry
* ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' (2005) - Marvin the Paranoid Android (voice)
* ''Film/SnowCake'' (2006) - Alex Hughes
* ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'' (2010) - Absolem the Caterpillar (voice)
* ''Film/AliceThroughTheLookingGlass'' (2016) - Absolem

** In Film/DieHard:
*** ''I am an exceptional thief Mrs. McClane and since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be a bit more polite!''
** In Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves:
*** ''Tell me where Hood is ... or we'll string you all up and find him anyway!''
** In Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban, altogether now:
*** ''Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter. Loss of limb will not excuse you. Turn to page three hundred and ninety four.''
** And in Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet:
*** ''Mark me boy, if I see your face on this street again, you'll rue the day you were born.''

* ClassicallyTrainedExtra: His character in ''Film/GalaxyQuest''. Averted in real life as he seemed to very much enjoy being action villains and snarky wizards.
* DramaticPause: Was... a... big... ''fan''. To the point J.K. Rowling admitted writing Severus Snape's dialogue in the later ''Potter'' books with Rickman's...''cadence'' in mind.

--->"E... ''[beat]'' ...qually... guilty."
* TheDreaded: In an amusing and unintentional way, he was this for Creator/JasonMewes during the filming of ''Film/{{Dogma}}''. When Mewes was informed by Creator/KevinSmith that he was going to have to be on point throughout the filming because this movie was going to have experienced and well-respected actors and ''Alan Rickman was one of them,'' Mewes took the filming so seriously that he not only memorized his lines, but everyone else's lines as well.

* EvilBrit: Another reason he was often cast as a villain, he played the EvilBrit trope exceedingly well.

* OddFriendship: He had an interesting one with Kevin Smith, considering one is a British acting legend and the other is a stoner indie filmmaker from Jersey, yet Rickman often kept in touch with Kevin and his family after filming ''{{Film/Dogma}}''.
* SecretKeeper: Rickman was the ''only'' person whom Creator/JKRowling entrusted with the truth about Severus Snape's motives, years before the fact that [[spoiler: Snape loved Lily Potter]] was revealed in the books.

----''

->''"[[Tearjerker/HarryPotter Always.]]"''

*** ''I am an exceptional thief Ms. Mc Clane and since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be a bit more polite!''

* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' - Professor Severus Snape

There is also [[LargeHam the pantomime villain]] Sheriff of Nottingham in ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'', who proved to be a better thief than that Costner fellow by stealing every scene he was in. Deliciously villainous and by far the most interesting character in the movie.

*** ''I am an exceptional thief Ms. McClane and since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be a bit more polite!"

----

* OddFriendship: Had an interesting one with Kevin Smith, considering one is a British acting legend and the other is a stoner indie filmmaker from Jersey, yet Rickman often kept in touch with Kevin and his family after filming Dogma.

!!Mr. Rickman provided ''very interesting'' examples of:

->''"[[Literature/HarryPotter After all this time?]]"''

->''"[[Tearjerker/HarryPotter Always]]"''

* AccentOnTheWrongSyllabe: He tended to have an odd cadence with some of his lines, which only made him even more intimidating.

* TheDreaded: In an amusing and unintentional way, he was this for Jason Mewes during the filming of ''Film/{{Dogma}}''. When Mewes was informed by Kevin Smith that he was going to have to be on point throughout the filming because this movie was going to have experienced and well-respected actors and ''Alan Rickman was one of them,'' Mewes took the filming so seriously that he not only memorized his lines, but everyone else's lines as well.

* TheDreaded: In an amusing and unintentional way, he was this for Jason Mewes during the filming of Dogma. When Mewes was informed by Kevin Smith that he was going to have to be on point throughout the filming because this movie was going to have experienced and well-respected actors and ''Alan Rickman was one of them,'' Mewes took the filming so seriously that he not only memorized his lines, but everyone else's lines as well.

-->"E... *beat* ...qually... guilty."