The world lost another great British superstar yesterday when Robbie Coltrane died at the age of 72, mourning Harry Potter fans for his iconic portrayal of the gentle giant Hagrid. The diary of Potter’s colleague, icon Rickman, was published last month, filled with arrogant magician’s notes about his time in the franchise. Coltrane famously said of working with him on films, “Alan Rickman has grown up in a big way. He was a bit frivolous and immature when we started and we’re looking at him now. He’s wearing a suit, he’s sober, he’s acting himself. It’s beautiful.” Scroll down to see ROBBIE comments Cheerful COLTRANE about Alan Rickman
The memoir confirms that Rickman wanted to exit the franchise in early 2002, when on December 4 he wrote of meetings with his agent: “Talk to Paul Lyon-Maris about HP’s exit, which he thinks will happen. But here we are in project collision zone again.” They don’t reiterate HP. They don’t want to hear that.”
Rickman describes his first conversations with writer J.K. Rowling and her “nervous” discoveries about Snape that enabled the actor to understand his character and ultimately prevented him from giving up the entire franchise.
On October 6 and 7, 2000, Rickman wrote: “First conversation with Joanne Rowling. Her sister replied – ‘She’s not here – can I leave a message?'” ‘Background chatter…’Sorry about that!…’ (I tell her) There are things only Snape knows and you know–I need to know…”You’re right–Call me tomorrow; no one knows these things. “
“Talk to Joanne Rowling again and she lets me nervously catch some glimpses of Snape’s background. Talking to her is talking to someone who lives these stories, not who invents them.”
Only after the franchise finally ended did Rowling finally reveal that she told him Snape had always loved Harry’s mother, Lily.
On July 27, 2006, Rickman wrote: “I have finished reading the last Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Snape dies heroically, Potter describes him to his children as one of the bravest men he ever knew and the son of Albus Severus. This was a true rite of passage.” A little tip from Joe Rowling seven years ago–I love Snap Lily–gave me a cliff edge to hold on to.”
However, from the start his comments were filled with his frustrations with the films. While filming The Half Blood Prince he talks about wanting to bang the heads of directors and producers “to the wall…I get the character development and the (dazzling) effects, but where’s the story???”
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Rickman has often described finding solace in camaraderie with older actors, such as tapas meals with Coltrane for “many fried dishes” or raiding hotel bistros for wine and chocolate.
Rickman highly praised Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of Voldemort and singled out Snape’s death scene as “the ultimate example of what can happen when two actors take a scene off the page and work with story, space, and each other.”
He also shared the hilarious way the ‘take out your wand’ line kept Helena Bonham Carter in laughter, and Helen McCrory said, “She says it’s terrifying but it fits like a glove with a mess.”
Co-stars Maggie Smith, Zoe Wanamaker, Ian Hart, Richard Harris are “in their ways sweet and funny souls,” but some of his comments about the main cast were somewhat more candid.
In May 2003, Rickman wrote of Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe: “Serious and focused — but with a sense of fun. I still don’t think he’s really an actor, but he’ll undoubtedly direct/produce.”
In the same year he wrote: “These kids need directing. They don’t know their lines and Emma [Watson]This side of Albania sometimes.”
But his main frustrations were with scripts and directing that put popular demands above the craft. While filming the 2004 movie Goblet of Fire, he wrote, “I feel very upset in this movie.”
One of his last posts on Potter is from January 14, 2010, while filming The Deathly Hallows Part 2 with director David Yates. “I have found it difficult to remember any particular scenes over the years because all decisions are made in committee rooms and not on the floor,” says Rickman. “We listen as DY tells us what we think and why (and in some cases tells us a story…) and a little piece of something creative in Caves”.
Rickman also mentions a moment in 2008 when a desperate Maggie Smith (who played Professor McGonagall) slipped off the set: “I found Maggie in her trailer, endangered and *** everything – all at once.”
Like many fans, the 2004 movie Prisoner of Azkaban was one of Rickman’s favorites from the franchise and wrote after the premiere: “Alfonso (Cuarón) did an extraordinary job. It’s a very adult film, so full of grit that it made me smile and smile. Every frame in it is The work of an artist and storyteller.
Madly, Dipley: The Diary of Alan Rickman, now released from Canongate
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