After just two films into the Harry Potter franchise, despite its box office success, Alan Rickman had some serious doubts about his character Severus Snape, having stressed to producers at the time that he had even contemplated leaving the wizarding series after likening his role to an “unchanging costume.” From what was gathered at the time of the revelation, Rickman wasn’t all that happy about the lack of diversity Snape had brought to the movies and felt as if he was giving the same performance for both Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Apparently, he wanted to be challenged, and if producers weren’t going to bring along a change to his role, he would have ultimately left the franchise. J.K. Rowling, who is the author of the much-loved book series of the seven Harry Potter novels, reportedly had to get involved after hearing that Rickman was looking to quit. She was clearly worried about the thought of the late actor departing, prompting her to tell him a secret about Snape that had changed everything.
So how exactly did Rowling convince Rickman not to quit the franchise and ultimately stick with Snape until the very end? Here’s the lowdown…
Alan Rickman Was Over The Franchise
As crazy as it sounds, Rickman was ready to move on from the Harry Potter franchise after wrapping up production for the second movie in 2002. We should note that the first installment, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, had accumulated an eye-watering $1 billion at the box office, becoming one of the biggest movies of 2001.
Its follow-up with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002 pulled in another $880 million, so it was evidently clear that Warner Bros. Pictures had an enormous hit on their hands — and they were only two movies into the seven-part novel (which consisted of 8 movies as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was split into two parts).
When Chamber of Secrets had entered cinemas, Rowling only had four of the seven novels published, so fans weren’t aware that Snape was going to become much more than an antagonist to Harry (played by Daniel Radcliffe), Ronald Weasley (Rupert Grint), and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson).
So, naturally being the actor that he was, Rickman felt his role as Snape wasn’t going to progress by any means: He didn’t want to play the same character for the duration of the franchise and not see some sort of character development.
In fact, Rickman considered Snape to being nothing more than an “unchanging costume,” referring to the fact that the movies hadn’t explored his background by the second film, and the only time viewers saw him on camera, he was alienating Harry, Hermione, and Ron. In an interview with Empire, however, Rickman shared that Rowling had come forward and had a chat with him on what she planned to include in Snape’s story further down the line by dropping a “small clue,” which were convincing enough to keep him on board and not quit the franchise.
“Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an unchanging costume, and that even though only three of the books were out at that time, she held the entire massive but delicate narrative in the surest of hands,” he shared. “It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller.
Thanks for all of it, Jo.” Rickman never disclosed what Rowling had told him about Snape that made him want to continue with the Harry Potter movies, but regardless of what she told him, he was happy to continue playing the character right until the very end with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, which entered cinemas back in 2011.
Rickman passed away five years later, in 2016, following his battle with pancreatic cancer — an illness he had only shared with close friends following his diagnosis. His former Harry Potter cast members were utterly stunned by his passing but all agreed in saying that they had nothing but positive things to say about the actor, who, despite having played a rather mean character, had a heart of gold on the set of the fantasy films.
“There are no words to express how shocked and devastated I am to hear of Alan Rickman's death. He was a magnificent actor & a wonderful man,” Rowling shared in a tweet following Rickman’s death. “My thoughts are with Rima and the rest of Alan's family. We have all lost a great talent. They have lost part of their hearts.” Rickman was 69 at the time of his passing.