"If people want to know who I am, it is all in the work"

I, Alan Sydney Patrick Rickman was born on February 21, 1946, in West London, England. Being the second of four children I was not very spoilt. My father, Bernard Rickman, was an Irish Catholic factory worker, and Mother Margaret Doreen Rose Rickman, a Welsh Methodist housewife.

The early years of my life were impoverished but very happy. But tragedy is commonplace in life; I had to experience the fear, pain and loss of death at the age of eight when my father died of lung cancer.

I attended the Derwentwater Primary School in Acton where I was quite fond of learning and excelled in watercolor painting and calligraphy. I won a scholarship to Latymer Upper School in London, where I appeared in several school plays, and then studied graphic design at Chelsea College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art.

After graduating, I started a graphic design company, Graphiti, with some friends. I met Rima Horton who I later went on to marry, in 1965 while in the amateur Group Court Drama Club.

At the age of 26, I decided to apply to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Even though from a very young age I had the liking and the skills to act, and even when I knew at the back of my mind it is what I'm supposed to do, there were other roads that had to be traveled first. It was finally at 26 when a voice in my head told me that it's time to do it. No excuses, No looking back. I worked through my two years at the RADA by taking freelance design jobs and by working as a set dresser to support my tuition fee.

Theatre... In 1978, I joined the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in The Tempest and Love's Labour's Lost, among others, although this wasn't an experience I took pleasure in. It's a factory. It has to be. It's all about product endlessly churned out—not sufficiently about process. They don't look after the young actors. People are dropping like flies, doing too many shows at once. There ought to be someone who helps them develop. When my time came I moved on from the RSC. Every experience is worth in life, so It was another one of those different paths I took. After retiring from the RSC I spent much of the rest of the 1980s acting in BBC serials, radio dramas and repertory theatre. 1985, was a mile stone for me with the starring role of Le Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a part that playwright Christopher Hampton (who adapted the script from an 18th century French novel) developed with me specifically in mind. First in London and then on Broadway, I acted villainous roles earning a Tony Award nomination. In 1988, Les Liaisons Dangereuses made the leap to the big screen, as Dangerous Liaisons, with the actor John Malkovich taking over the iconic part of Vicomte de Valmont.

Hans Gruber, was my first role in the silver screen. Impossibly evil villain Hans Gruber was the main antagonist terrorist in 'Die Hard'. After appearing in Quigley Down Under (1990), I starred in three successful features in 1991: Close My Eyes; Truly, Madly, Deeply; and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in which I played an unforgettably arch Sheriff of Nottingham. This role, accentuating the first impression made in Die Hard, cemented my image as a "villain" actor— a title I disliked: I don't see any of my characters as one word. It doesn't matter what I'm playing: it's not one word, and I think any actor would say the same. You can't classify a character as a villain, even though it is what is obvious. There are layers to a person. That's how I see it.

2000' s, quite the groundbreaking and nerve wrecking years followed. This is when Jo Rowling specifically asked me to act in Harry Potter as Professor Severus Snape. I told Jo that I can't play a character without knowing him. Even though the character itself was a mystery, I had to know who I was playing. And so Jo told me a plot that I didn't understand at that time, but I understood my role by her insight. Not even her sister knew the twist to the story let alone the directors of the movie.

My other films in the 2000s include Love Actually (2003), Snow Cake (2006), Nobel Son (2007) and Bottle Shock (2008). I collaborated twice with Tim Burton, in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Alice in Wonderland (2010). I also wrote and directed a one-woman play; My Name is Rachel Corrie, winning good reviews in both London and New York City. I was not tired of life in centre stage. Life has shifting horizons so you might as well keep swimming.

Rima, nobody knew of our marriage. I wanted a very personal and intimate wedding so I secretly married Rima. After the ceremony in New York, we walked across Brooklyn Bridge and ate lunch at a cafe. Life with her was one of the best I ever had. She was an amazing woman, truly one of those people who touch hearts and leave imprints on you forever.

Do you know that moment when you paint a landscape as a child and, when you’re maybe under seven or something, the sky is just a blue stripe across the top of the paper? And then there’s that somewhat disappointing moment when the teacher tells you that the sky actually comes down in amongst all the branches. And it’s like life changes at that moment and becomes much more complicated and a little bit more boring, as it’s rather tedious to fill in the branches? Life is complicated that way. As you grow older, you start to see aspects of things you have never seen before. It becomes harsh and brutal and sometimes very unfair.

Be kind and learn to be humble. The road ahead will be rough at the edges and with pot holes and uneven bumps. But don't take life too seriously, laugh at yourself and be able to change and adopt. You will make mistakes and travel in different paths before you see what your true potential and destiny is. And when that little voice inside your head says "It's time to get this done; no excuses, no turning back", it will set your soul on fire do not let it die.

Because after all this time, don't let your big dreams die. Keep Going.

Always,

Alan Rickman

Written by Devuni Goonewardene Let's have a discussion, send your feedback to devuni@gmail.com