Alan Rickman, Always.

When I sat down on the couch this morning with my cup of coffee, the last thing that I expected was to hear such saddening news.

Alan Rickman has passed away. My heart dropped. It was so unbelievable to me at first that I spent a lot of time confirming the legitimacy of the news.

Announcing his death on Thursday, a family statement said: “The actor and director Alan Rickman has died from cancer at the age of 69. He was surrounded by family and friends.“

I was stunned and heartbroken instantly. I have always appreciated Alan Rickman’s work even though he became most famous for playing villains.  There was just so much about the way he carried himself in each role that, even if you disliked his character, you developed a certain respect for that character. Then there were other gentler movies like Truly Madly Deeply and Love, Actually where he showed us all how diverse his talent was.

“His capacity to fell you with a look or lift you with a word. The intransigence which made him the great artist he was – his ineffable and cynical wit, the clarity with which he saw most things, including me, and the fact that he never spared me the view. I learned a lot from him.” – Emma Thompson

Alan Rickman’s spectrum of talent was most brilliant, in my opinion, when he took on the role of Professor Severus Snape in all eight of the Harry Potter movies. People familiar with the series know that Severus Snape was a highly complicated man. He was the professor that you loved to hate, until he revealed his true nature beneath the cold sneering exterior. This was a character made for Rickman, and I don’t think that anyone could have brought Professor Snape to life quite like Rickman did.

Truly, his death today has felt as though we’ve lost Professor Snape himself. That is how closely he represented Snape for me. I’m sure he had the same profound effect on a lot of Harry Potter fans.

Rest in Peace, Alan Rickman. You will be missed so very much.