Alan Rickman

Actor

1946-02-21 – 2016-01-14

Alan Rickman was an English actor known for stage and screen performances. He received international recognition for roles including Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series. His career also included acclaimed theater direction and dramatic roles.

Books by Alan Rickman

Madly, Deeply
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My name is Rachel Corrie
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Rickman Diaries
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Quotes by Alan Rickman

Mellow doesn't describe me. I'm hungry every day.
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Mellow doesn't describe me. I'm hungry every day.
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I get stage fright and gremlins in my head saying: 'You're going to forget your lines'.
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In theater, you've got to be aware of your whole body because it involves stamina. It involves two-and-a-half hours and a sustained release of energy, maybe for six months.
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And it's a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible.
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It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller. Thanks for all of it, Jo.
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I was a student in London in the '70s, so CBGB really wasn't on my radar at all. Obviously, I was aware of the emergence of the Police in England and as an art student, I was very aware of David Byrne, but I suppose my musical taste at that time certainly didn't stretch towards the Dead Boys or the Ramones.
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I want to swim in both directions at once. Desire success, court failure.
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I'm very aware that when one is acting in the theater, you do become kind of animal about it. And you're reliant on instincts rather than tact a lot of the time.
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On the screen were some flashback shots of Daniel, Emma and Rupert from ten years ago. They were 12. I have also recently returned from New York, and while I was there, I saw Daniel singing and dancing (brilliantly) on Broadway. A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes.
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If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust.
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Actors are agents of change. A film, a piece of theater, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world.
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If you spend any time in Los Angeles, there's only one topic of conversation.
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If you could build a house on a trampoline, that would suit me fine.
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Nothing gives me as much pleasure as travelling. I love getting on trains and boats and planes.
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Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an unchanging costume, and that even though only three of the books were out at that time, she held the entire massive but delicate narrative in the surest of hands.
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It would be wonderful to think that the future is unknown and sort of surprising.
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Film has to be reflecting the world that we live in, and that's all you want to be a part of. Actors inhabit the same planet as everyone else. It's a weird thing that happens when you're an actor because people hold you up because you somehow embody in parts groups of people or people's hopes or something.
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Somebody with Debbie Reynolds' features doesn't get cast as the Wicked Witch.
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Originally, theater was my life. It was what I assumed I'd spend my working life doing - if I was lucky. Then along came movies.
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