The Untold Story of Alan Rickman's Rise to Fame

The Untold Story of Alan Rickman’s Rise to Fame

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at Alan Rickman’s unlikely journey to international stardom.

Early Years

Rickman was born to working class parents in west London in 1946, and he spent much of his childhood living in public housing. After his father passed away from cancer when Rickman was just eight years old, his mother was forced to raise four children on a postal worker’s salary. From a young age, Rickman was a talented artist, and in grade school, he also discovered a love for the theater. After primary school, he enrolled in the Chelsea College of Art and Design and later the Royal College of Art, considering art to be a safer career path than theater. He went on to work as a successful graphic designer for several years, even starting his own studio with a few friends. However, his love of acting soon called him back to the stage. After doing amateur theater for a time, he applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and was accepted – a move that he himself said changed his life.

Entrance into Professional Acting

If you’ve seen Rickman in any major role, you know that it seems like he was born to be on the big screen. But he didn’t get his first on-screen role until his thirties, and that was on TV. After finishing drama school, he began working as a stage actor and soon landed major roles with well-known theater companies. His success was at least partly thanks to his instantly recognizable voice and unique way of speaking. This wasn’t an affectation – Rickman was forced to speak slowly because of a birth defect that made his jaw stiff. In the late 1970’s, he starred on stage as Sherlock Holmes and appeared in a number of Shakespeare productions. In 1978, he appeared on TV for the first time as Tybalt in a BBC production of “Romeo and Juliet.” He would go on to have several more minor roles on British television and major roles in British theater throughout the 1980’s.

“Die Hard” (1988)

Everything changed for Rickman in 1988, when his role as the villain Hans Gruber shot him to overnight superstardom. Producer Joel Silver saw Rickman perform on Broadway as Le Vicomte de Valmont in “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” – a.k.a. “Dangerous Liaisons” – and knew he’d make the perfect big screen baddie. However, Rickman didn’t immediately feel the same way. He wasn’t sure he wanted to start his film career with a project that was such a far cry from any stage or TV role he’d had up to that point. However, his friends convinced him that the opportunity was too big to turn down … and we’re glad they did. “Die Hard” was a smash hit, with critics particularly praising Rickman’s performance. Hans Gruber consistently shows up on lists of the greatest movie villains of all time thanks to Rickman’s incredibly memorable performance.

1990s Rise to Fame

Following the success of “Die Hard,” offers for major movie roles began flooding in. Rickman quickly accepted parts in two big budget films: 1990’s “Quigley Down Under” and 1991’s “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” While “Quigley” was a bit of a flop, “Robin Hood” was a huge box office draw. Critics were lukewarm on the film but once again, they loved Rickman as the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, and the performance earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Understandably, Rickman began worrying about being typecast as a villain. To counter this, he turned down the role of Bond villain Alec Trevelyan in “Goldeneye” and accepted roles in smaller budget movies that allowed him to explore his range as an actor. One of the most memorable and beloved of these was the British film “Truly, Madly, Deeply,” in which Rickman plays the ghost of a woman’s deceased boyfriend. He finished out the decade with parts in two more major films. He played a snarky angel in Kevin Smith’s “Dogma.” And in “Galaxy Quest” he portrays a Shakespearean actor who’s annoyed that he’s best known for playing an alien – a part that seemed made for Rickman. These roles enabled him to flex his comedic chops for American audiences in a way he’d never done before.

“Harry Potter”

In the 2000’s, a new generation of fans was introduced to Rickman as the loathsome Professor Severus Snape. Though today it’s almost impossible to imagine any other actor in the role, Rickman reportedly took a long time to commit to it. His hesitation is understandable, considering he’d been working hard to avoid being seen as nothing but a villain. At the time he signed on to play Snape, not all of the books had been released, and we didn’t know where the character was headed. Contrary to popular rumors, Rickman was almost as much in the dark as the fans. However, J.K. Rowling did share one small detail with Rickman early on: the fact that his character had once been in love with Lily Potter. That knowledge enabled him to play the seemingly villainous Snape with even more depth and complexity.

Other 2000’s Roles

Despite shooting eight “Harry Potter” movies in just ten years, Rickman also managed to squeeze in other movie roles and TV appearances in between. He even directed plays in both New York and London during this time. Perhaps the most famous of his movies from the 2000’s – aside from “Harry Potter,” of course – is “Love Actually,” in which he got to play a romantic lead for the first time in years. His character, Harry, is torn between being loyal to his wife and family and pursuing an affair with a flirtatious young employee. The tireless actor also showed up in other major movies like “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” as well as lesser-known and independent films like the romantic dramedy “Snow Cake.”

Final Years

Rickman never slowed down, even in the last years of his life. He continued showing up on the big screen in both major and minor movies, including a brief but memorable turn as Ronald Reagan in “Lee Daniels' The Butler.” In 2014 he stepped into the role of director for “A Little Chaos,” a period drama which he also co-wrote and appeared in as King Louis XIV. He also teamed up with Tim Burton again to provide the voice of Absolem the Caterpillar in “Alice in Wonderland.” He even returned to the stage to star in not one, but two plays: “John Gabriel Borkman,” which he performed in both Dublin and New York, and “Seminar,” which premiered on Broadway. In 2016, Rickman tragically passed away from pancreatic cancer. The news came as a shock to many of his former colleagues, especially since the actor had only shared his diagnosis with a few people. Many fellow actors shared tributes raving about his warmth and kindness, and fans even created a memorial to the late star at the Platform 9 3⁄4 sign at King's Cross station. Though his entry to Hollywood stardom came relatively late in life, he left behind a legacy that will last long after his passing.

Which of Alan Rickman’s roles do you think is the most iconic? Let us know in the comments.