Harry Potter star Alan Rickman initially feared playing Severus Snape in the iconic fantasy franchise would result in him being typecast for the rest of his acting career.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone director Chris Columbus revealed in an interview with AV Club, "He was reluctant because he didn't want to be typecast as a villain, particularly after Die Hard, and I guess Robin Hood [Prince Of Thieves]."
The director then explained how the film's other stars were cast. "I remember [producer] David Heyman and myself had to do the British actor's dinner tour for quite some time," he stated. "We went out to dinner with Richard Harris to convince him, and Maggie Smith to convince her. Alan Rickman was the same." Richard Harris portrayed Albus Dumbledore until his death in 2002, and Maggie Smith was cast as Professor Minerva McGonagall.
Rickman played Snape in all eight movies. Even in the first film, he was aware of the fate of his character despite the book series being incomplete. Columbus recalled, "So when we would be on set, he would do these tiny little idiosyncrasies with his performance, and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I'd walk up to him afterwards and say, 'What was that?' He would say, 'Oh, you'll know when you read the seventh book.' It was like, 'Well, yeah, but that doesn't help me now. I'm directing the first movie.'"
Outside of Harry Potter, Rickman is best known for his roles as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Rickman passed away in 2016 due to pancreatic cancer at the age of 69.
A celebration of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone will be held next year, with a reunion special titled Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. Much of the large ensemble cast is returning, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter. The special will be available on HBO Max on Jan. 1, 2022.
Source: AV Club
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