TRULY, MADLY, RICKMAN
Alan Rickman’s range as an actor took us from Die Hard to Sense and Sensibility,
From ghostly lover Jamie in the romance Truly Madly Deeply to dark Harry Potter anti-hero Severus Snape, British stage and screen actor Alan Rickman was known for tackling appealing and menacing characters with equal flair, crossing generations and genres.
Rickman, who died of cancer Thursday at age 69, could be a charming, seductive presence onscreen. Yet he wasn’t afraid to be a bad guy, especially with one of his most beloved roles, icy terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
Infuriated with Robin Hood’s (Kevin Costner) popularity in Prince Of Thieves, his comically evil Sheriff of Nottingham famously orders: “Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings and call off Christmas!”
He was eulogized by friend and frequent collaborator Emma Thompson, who was half of an onscreen couple with him in British holiday rom-com Love Actually.
“Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have just kissed him goodbye,” Vanity Fair reports Thompson wrote after his death. “What I remember most in this moment of painful leavetaking is his humour, intelligence, wisdom and kindness.”
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe posted this tribute on social media: “Alan Rickman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with . . . I will carry the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career.” Rickman also had a passion for Canada. During our 2008 interview for Bottle Shock, his film about how upstart California vintners took on French winemakers, Rickman was more interested in talking about the night in 2005 when he dined with then-governor general Adrienne Clarkson at her Ottawa residence, enjoying a variety of Canadian wines.
The two had met three years before when Clarkson came backstage after his Tony-nominated performance in Noel Coward’s Private Lives on Broadway.
“She is an amazing woman,” he said in that gorgeous deep and unhurried voice. “Canada ought to be very proud of her.”
Clarkson’s aide said she would not be commenting on Rickman’s death.
The actor had also seen parts of the country not every Canuck can lay claim to visiting, shooting Snow Cake in Wawa in 2005 and riding the VIA Canadian train between Jasper and Vancouver, as well as spending time in Toronto and Montreal.
We talked about how much he enjoyed taking a float plane to Tofino and Sooke Harbour.
“It was wonderful; everybody should do that,” said Rickman of his western Canada adventure.
Toronto actor-playwright Richard Greenblatt ( 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, with Ted Dykstra) met Rickman 45 years ago when both studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. They were roommates for about 18 months and “starved our way through Switzerland” as students on a two-week trip.
Rickman remained a close friend, becoming godfather to Greenblatt’s daughter.
“He was just a really wonderful friend, not just to me but all of his friends,” said Greenblatt, who praised Rickman as “an extraordinary artist.”
Rickman’s Snow Cake co-star, Canadian actress Emily Hampshire, described the actor as “not only a great actor but a loyal, generous and devoted friend,” who “remained a friend and mentor till the end,” on her Facebook page.
He was equally convincing playing Col. Brandon in Ang Lee’s period drama Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and also co-starred) as he was playing the embittered has-been actor Alexander Dane in comedy Galaxy Quest.
Rickman started as a stage actor, playing the cruelly seductive Vicomte de Valmont onstage in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, winning his first Tony when the play moved from London to Broadway.
He was also a director, helming The Winter Guest (starring Thompson and her mother, Phyllida Law) in 1997 and co-starring opposite Kate Winslet in 2014 TIFF closing Gala film, A Little Chaos. Rickman was in Toronto for that premiere.
He’ll be seen — and heard — in two movies this year: In March, in British thriller Eye in the Sky, co-starring Helen Mirren, which premiered at TIFF, and voicing the Blue Caterpillar in Alice Through the Looking Glass in May.
Rickman is survived by his partner of 50 years, Rima Horton. They married in 2012.