“This Guy Hates Me”: Daniel Radcliffe Recalls Being Intimidated By Alan Rickman On Harry Potter Set

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe recalls how intimidating he initially found Professor Snape actor Alan Rickman while working on the hit movie franchise. Rickman, whose early movie career was largely defined by playing menacing villains, was cast in the pivotal role of Hogwarts’ resident potions master Severus Snape. A cold and calculating wizard who takes an almost instant disliking to Radcliffe’s young Harry Potter, his character is later revealed to be a double agent working secretly for Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix against Lord Voldemort.

During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Variety), Radcliffe was played a 2016 interview of Rickman praising his Harry Potter co-star and his work in the Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Becoming emotional at seeing the clip, Radcliffe fondly recalled that while he was seriously intimated by Rickman’s presence on the early Harry Potter movies, the late actor saw that his young co-star really wanted to refine his skills as a professional performer and “saw every piece of stage work I did when he was alive.” Check out Radcliffe’s comments below:

I was so intimidated by Alan Rickman. How can you not be by that voice? Even hearing that voice you forget quite how low it was until it echoes through you. I was so intimidated by him for the first three movies. I was terrified by him and was like, “This guy hates me.” Somewhere along the lines he saw that I really wanted to do this and work at it.

He cut short a vacation in Canada to come and see me in Equus. He saw every piece of stage work I did when he was alive. He would take me out afterwards and we would talk about it. He was one of the first people to say like, “You should look at voice coaching and investigate all this stuff.” I am so lucky. To hear him say that is really lovely. Thank you for showing me that

Snape Remains One Of Alan Rickman’s Most Memorable Roles

As evidenced by Radcliffe’s comments, Rickman fully embodied the role of Snape, and Radcliffe is not the first actor from the franchise to admit he was scared of him early on. While countless viewers would agree that Rickman’s tenure as Severus Snape remains one of the most memorable parts of the Harry Potter movies, it won’t be long before Warner Bros. places a new actor in the role. With the forthcoming Harry Potter television series looking to reboot the franchise from the start, Snape will be one of several key roles needing to be filled by a whole new cast.

Why Recasting Severus Snape Will Be A Nearly Impossible Task

Naturally, a great deal of importance will be placed on whoever is selected to succeed the likes of Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson as the new Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but Snape’s role will likely prove the most difficult for the new Harry Potter show to cast. Not only is Rickman still fondly remembered for his time as Potter’s antagonistic potions teacher, but his character is arguably one of the franchise’s most pivotal roles outside of the three main characters.

While audiences may be inclined to give some leeway to the show’s new child stars, simply on account of their age, whichever actor is selected to follow in Rickman’s footsteps will likely find their performance closely scrutinized and inevitably compared to that of their beloved predecessor. Moreover, with the original Harry Potter movies such an important part of Rickman’s enduring legacy, the slightest misstep in recasting Snape’s role could potentially spell doom for the show before the first episode even airs.

Source: Happy Sad Confused (via Variety)