Alan Rickman was perhaps best known for his role as Severus Snape, in the Harry Potter franchise. However, a collection of letters and personal papers that will be auctioned at the ABA Rare Book Fair in London have revealed that the late actor, who passed away in 2016, struggled with his role as the misanthropic antihero, and wrote notes to himself about the character. One read: "Inside Snape's Head. It's as if David Yates has decided that this is not important in the scheme of things i.e. teen audience appeal."
Alan passed away in 2016
Another letter from producer David Heyman read: "Thank you for making HP2 a success. I know, at times, you are frustrated but please know that you are an integral part of the films. And you are brilliant." The letters also included a handwritten note from a young Daniel Radcliffe, and a message from JK Rowling thanking him for "doing justice to my most complex character". Another letter from David contained the script for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone while asking Alan to play Snape. It read: "I would love you to consider the role of Snape. This is still a work in progress, but you should get a sense of the role, of the story, and… of our intention to be as faithful to the author's (Jo Rowling's) vision as possible."
The collection is currently valued at £950,000. Bookseller Neil Pearson, who brought together the works, told the Mirror: "It's a fabulous collection. There are 35 boxes of it – there is the Truly Madly Deeply script in there and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is in there. Every single script of a play or film, all of his diaries and a massive amount of correspondence from pretty much everyone you’ve ever heard of." Neil previously told a fan that he would like the collection to go to a national archive, tweeting: "A national archive is exactly the home we're looking for… and discussions are ongoing."
READ: Kate Winslet pens touching tribute to close friend Alan Rickman: 'He was a great big softie'