Alan Rickman Was Able To Become Snape With The Advice Of J.K. Rowling

Last week’s passing of well-loved British actor Alan Rickman was especially sad considering how close it came after the death of David Bowie. Alan Rickman was well known for holding a number of different film roles, but most prominently his fantastic portrayal of Severus Snape in the movie adaptations of the Harry Potter books.

Rickman was acclaimed because of the fantastic job he did at assuming the role of Snape, and it had often been speculated that the star had spoken with series author J.K. Rowling in order to properly play the character. However, it has now arisen after his death that Rowling did, in fact, speak with Rickman when he was cast in the role of Snape and revealed a few secrets to properly taking on the role of Harry Potter’s greatest villain.

You might remember Rickman speaking out about his relationship with J.K. Rowling before his death in an interview with RTÉ. He was always keen to point out that he was given no special information about the where the books were heading and he was always forced to buy and read the books as they came out, much like everyone else.

“She certainly didn’t tell me what the end of the story was going to be in any way at all, so I was having to buy the books along with everybody else.

“No, she gave me one little piece of information, which I always said I would never share with anybody and never have, and never will. It wasn’t a plot point, or crucial in any tangible way, but it was crucial to me as a piece of information that made me travel down that road rather than that one or that one or that one.”

With the above taken into consideration, following the star’s death, many of the series’ fans were curious to find out more about the relationship between Rickman and Rowling, with several taking to Twitter in order to find out more. Rowling’s reply was one of only a few words but it definitely said a lot for how Rickman was able to become Snape.

I told Alan what lies behind the word ‘always’. https://t.co/NHTJ5J6kxb

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 18, 2016

As fans of the Harry Potter series are already more than aware, this is in reference to a scene in the final installment in the series where we learn that Snape had been in love with Harry’s mother, Lily. It’s at this point that we learn how deep and developed as a character Snape really was, and we can truly appreciate Rickman’s portrayal of the character. As you may recall, we soon learned that Snape’s goal had always been to overlook Harry and make sure that he was protected throughout life.

Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Severus Snape was arguably as complex and in-depth as the character himself. With that in mind, it was always assumed that he had taken some form of advice from the author of the original books, J.K. Rowling.

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman passed away on Thursday, January 14, 2016, only four days following the death of British music sensation David Bowie. For fans of British music and film, last week was a truly tragic point in history. Rickman will be remembered not only for his portrayal as Snape in the Harry Potter series but also a number of other prominent film roles including that of the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. For that and a number of other roles, he received a range of different awards and accolades. Truly one of the United Kingdom’s most celebrated talents.

[Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images]