Exploring the story of Alan Rickman’s first film role
The legacy of Alan Rickman often revolves around his iconic tenure as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films but his contributions to the world of cinema extend way beyond that. One of the most talented actors of his generation, Rickman’s not only achieved new heights in the performing arts but also managed to establish a connection with the mainstream consciousness that can never be severed.
When he was a child, Rickman was drawn to acting but a serious obstacle in his way was a speech impediment caused by a birth defect that left him with a tight jaw. Although he explored other avenues at first, Rickman believed that it was inevitable that he would end up as an actor and even managed to use his impediment to his advantage by building his unique acting persona around it.
At the start of his acting career, Rickman exclusively worked with experimental theatrical productions and even managed to win a Tony Award nomination for his work in the domain of theatre. Even later in his life, Rickman maintained that he was very surprised that he had been able to make a career in cinema even though his passion was for the stage.
He almost turned down his film career before it even started when he was invited to Los Angeles to audition for the iconic part of the antagonist Hans Gruber in Die Hard. In an interview, Rickman recalled that he was as unfamiliar with the film industry as he was with Los Angeles and the entire experience of going out there was a very overwhelming one.
This was compounded by the fact that the role he was offered was for one of the greatest action films of all time, a genre that he wasn’t fond of in the first place. “What the hell is this? I’m not doing an action movie,” Rickman remembered thinking as he was going through the initial draft of the script that he was offered to take a look at in 1987.
At the time, Rickman was already in his early 40s and did not expect to transition into movies but producer Joel Silver was adamant about casting him because he had been mesmerised by his performance in a Broadway production. Thankfully, Rickman eventually agreed to star in Die Hard which marked the beginning of a new era for him.
Rickman’s charismatic rendition of Gruber was hailed as a revelation by almost everyone who saw the film, even the critics like Roger Ebert who weren’t impressed by the project but were amazed at Rickman’s acting abilities. The performance is now remembered as one of the greatest villain roles in the history of American filmmaking.
