Why we love Alan Rickman - the villain with the perfect voice

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The life hacker recalls the creative path and the main characters in the cinema of a talented actor and simply a charming person.

For most of his life, Alan Rickman played in the theater, only occasionally appearing in television series and little-known films. The actor loved the stage. They say that most of all he dreamed of opening his own theater.

But he did not plan to become a Hollywood star. But fame itself found an amazingly talented actor, and the whole world learned about him.

Theatrical Valmont and on-screen Gruber

In 1985, Rickman got his first major role in the theater - he played the Viscount de Valmont in the production of Dangerous Liaisons. The performance with his participation became very popular in Great Britain and became an important source of income for the theater.

After playing two years in England, the troupe went on tour to the USA on Broadway. There, Rickman received nominations for the prestigious theater awards "Tony" and "Drama Desk".

And it was during one of his Broadway performances that he met the producers of Die Hard, Joel Silver and Charles Gordon. They invited the Briton to play the main villain in the film. Thus began the path of Alan Rickman to the big cinema. At that time he was already over 40 years old.

What to see: "Die Hard"

• USA, 1988.
• Action movie.
• Duration: 132 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

Police Officer John McClain comes to Los Angeles for Christmas to make up with his wife. But it turns out that the skyscraper where she works was captured by terrorists. And instead of resting, McClane has to save everyone on his own.

Two very interesting facts are connected with the debut of Rickman in the blockbuster. Firstly, the actor from Great Britain has already become famous for his perfect pronunciation, and here he had to play a native of Germany. But still, his hero speaks more correctly than most American actors.

And secondly, Alan Rickman was afraid of firearms, and therefore the role of a terrorist in an action movie was not easy for him.

Typical villain

Rickman got used to the completely uncharacteristic role of a villain so well that in the following years he was regularly invited to play negative or at least controversial characters. He happened to be a businessman who throws people in the wilderness without water ("Quigley in Australia"), a cruel civil servant interrogating a woman ("Country in the closet"), and even Grigory Rasputin ("Rasputin").

Only in British films did Rickman manage to play good characters. This happened for the first time in the film "Sincerely, Madly, Strongly."

By the way, despite the growing popularity in cinema, the actor did not forget about the theater. He often abandoned screen roles in favor of live performances.

What to see: "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"

• USA, 1991.
• Adventures.
• Duration: 143 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

An experienced warrior Robin from Locksley is captured during the next Crusade. After escaping, he returns to his homeland and discovers that the Sheriff of Nottingham has seized power. Robin gathers a team of forest robbers to overthrow the sheriff and restore justice.

Alan Rickman turned down the role of Sheriff of Nottingham twice. He believed that this would ruin his career (apparently, fearing to finally strengthen the image of the villain). And he agreed only when the director gave him complete freedom in interpreting the role.

And yet the original voice acting of the picture looks a little strange: the action takes place in England, but all the main characters, including Kevin Costner, speak with an American accent. And only the villain has a clear pronunciation.

The voice of god

A separate merit in Alan Rickman's acting is his timbre of voice and manner of speaking. But this is not a gift, but the result of long work.

Rickman had a congenital defect of the lower jaw, which greatly affected diction. Because of this, the actor had to work on pronunciation for a long time. So there was a leisurely manner of speech and a velvet voice that hides speech defects, which was later recognized as one of the most pleasant in the world.

Alan Rickman was a rather humble person, and rarely agreed to appear in commercials. But he voiced dozens of videos and even became one of the voices of the Garmin navigator. Yes, and in a big movie, you can often hear his voice, even if the actor does not appear in the frame. For example, he voiced the robot Marvin in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the caterpillar Absolem in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

For his voice, Rickman was nicknamed The Voice. It is ironic that Kevin Smith invited him to play the archangel Metatron in the film "Dogma" - the voice of God.

What to see: "Dogma"

• USA, 1999.
• Adventure, drama, comedy.
• Duration: 130 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Angels Loki and Bartleby are doomed to spend eternity on earth. But they find a loophole in the dogma that will help them return to heaven. True, this can lead to the disappearance of all that exists. To thwart them, Seraphim Metatron sends the abortion worker Bethany on a "crusade." And she will be helped by Jay with the silent Bob, a black angel and a muse who works as a stripper.

Kevin Smith recruited Alan Rickman to play Metatron after learning that he was a big fan of his movie Chasing Amy. According to rumors, after getting acquainted with the plot, Rickman only asked if they would follow the script exactly during filming and would they make real wings for him or would they just draw them on a computer?

The director also warned his friend Jason Mewes, who played Jay, that he would have to improve his acting level, because he would play alongside a professional theatrical actor. From resentment Mewes learned not only his role, but the entire script as a whole: he really did not want to look like a layman in front of Rickman.

Serious friend of all children

But, of course, Alan Rickman won universal love thanks to the role of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. And again it was an ambiguous character: in the first films, he seems evil until the true motives of his behavior are revealed.

In part, this reflected the character of Rickman himself. Because of his appearance, he could seem rather stern, and some children were even afraid of him. But behind a serious face was the kindness of a modest man who did not consider himself a star, secretly helped charities and supported aspiring actors.

For the role of Severus Snape, the producers wanted to take someone younger, then Tim Roth was considered the main candidate for a long time. But Rickman's candidacy was personally approved by J. K. Rowling. Later, the actor corresponded with her, discussing the development of the character's storyline, and Rowling repeatedly thanked him for new ideas. They even say that he alone knew the fate of his hero even before the release of the last book.

The young actors who played the main roles say that on the set he was the opposite of his hero. Rickman often joked, supported everyone in difficult moments, gave advice and constantly smiled.

Daniel Radcliffe later mentioned that Alan Rickman, from the very first film, treated children with the same respect and seriousness as adult actors.

What to see: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

• USA, UK, 2001.
• Fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 152 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Harry Potter, 10, died when he was a child. He is raised by his uncle and aunt, but Harry's life can hardly be called happy. Everything changes when he receives a letter of enrollment in the school of wizards.

Faint star

But even after the worldwide success of "Harry Potter" Rickman did not become your typical star. Since the days of "Die Hard", he has regularly been included in the lists of the sexiest men on the planet and ratings of the best villains. After the role of Snape, he had millions of fans (and this despite the fact that he was neither a central nor a positive character). And Rickman still preferred theater to films and did not like talking to journalists.

The actor always scolded the stars who talk a lot about themselves, considering this to be signs of excessive narcissism. Since his youth, he was in a relationship with Rima Horton, but did not advertise his personal life. They got married in 2012 after 47 years of marriage. And they did it secretly, without guests and ceremony. And the general public learned about this only after three years.

The actor chose the roles all the same diligently. In addition, he directed two films: "The Winter Guest" and "A Little Chaos" (in the official Russian box office "Versailles Romance"). But both of these films are not well known.

Rickman has appeared in films less often than he could. But each of his images is remembered for a long time. For example, in Sweeney Todd, it turned out that he also sings well.

What to see: "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

• USA, UK, 2007.
• Musical, thriller.
• Duration: 132 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

Barber Benjamin Barker returns to London from hard labor, where he was unjustly sent by a judge, who dreams of taking possession of his wife. The hero learns that his wife, unable to bear the violence, committed suicide. And then he takes the name Sweeney Todd and decides to take revenge on all the villains.

Alan Rickman passed away on January 14, 2016, just short of his 70th birthday. His last film role was the image of General Benson in the film "The All-Seeing Eye". After that, he again voiced Absolem in the movie "Alice Through the Looking Glass".

On the day of Rickman's death, thousands of Potter fans around the world lit "magic wands" saying goodbye to their favorite actor. For his anniversary, fans planned to release a book with letters and creative works and give it to the actor. But she came out after Alan's death, and the work was handed to his wife as a tribute to the memory of a wonderful artist and just a charming person.