Alan Rickman, beloved British actor, best known by the generation of students at BYU–Hawaii for his role as Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” movie franchise, died on Jan. 14, 2016 from cancer at the age of 69.
Rickman had an extensive acting career stretching across both the stage and the silver screen, with a Golden Globe award, an Emmy, and several other prestigious awards and nominations throughout the years. He was an inspiration to many people he worked with as well as those who only knew him through his characters and career.
Daniel Radcliffe, actor of the character Harry Potter, said in a tribute to Rickman posted on Facebook, “He was so encouraging of me both on set and in the years post-Potter. I'm pretty sure he came and saw everything I ever did on stage both in London and New York... Working with him at such a formative age was incredibly important and I will carry the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career. Film sets and theatre stages are all far poorer for the loss of this great actor and man.”
Nicole Zitto, a freshman art major from Honolulu, expressed the impact that Rickman left on her. “The one thing that I took away from him is that it doesn’t matter how you start out, because he didn’t start acting until he was in his late twenties, and so many actors start as kids, but as long as you find what you love to do, keep going after that.”
Rickman began his acting career on the stage with The Royal Shakespeare Company, and climbed from there, achieving his breakthrough film role in the 1988 movie “Die Hard.” He would then go on to perform in movies like “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and, of course, “Harry Potter.”
Rickman was more than an actor, though. He was a director of both theatre and film during his time, and according to a statement to BBC4 radio from Sir Michael Gambin, who worked with Rickman on “Harry Potter” as Dumbledore as well as in theatre productions, “He was intelligent, he wrote plays, he directed a play. So he was a real man of the theatre and the stage, and that's how I think of Alan.”
To most of today’s young adults, Rickman will be remembered as the ominous Professor Snape. According to the New York Times, “Professor Snape seemed at first to be a traditional foil for the titular protagonist, but through Mr. Rickman’s increasingly intricate performances over eight films, he would be revealed as having a more crucial role in the young hero’s life.”
Rickman said of his character, “With the last film it was very cathartic because you were finally able to see who he was. It was strange, in a way, to play stuff that was so emotional. A lot of the time you’re working in two dimensions, not three.”
Across the Internet on the day of passing, multitudes of Harry Potter fans were paying their tributes in various ways, a popular one being an invitation to all to raise their wands in honor of a great man.