Random Delightful Stories About Alan Rickman From Other Actors And Crew On Set (12 items)

(#12) He Warned The 'Harry Potter' Kids Not To Step On His 'Effing Cloak'

Because of his extensive acting experience and austere nature, Rickman's penchant for deadpan humor sometimes intimidated his young costars. While filming one of the Harry Potter movies, he told the kids, "Don't step on my effing cloak."

Actor Tom Felton confessed in an interview, "Alan Rickman's a very scary man, and he almost holds himself with a Snape-like presence. So, when you're a youngster, that can be very, very daunting. It took me six years to be able to say, 'Good morning, Alan.'"
(#3) He Regularly Invited Kids To The 'Harry Potter' Set

Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films, remembered how Rickman's big heart was seemingly at odds with his serious reputation and his infamous stern appearance. His softer side was evident in some of his actions regarding guests he invited to the set.

Of this lesser-known side of Rickman, Lynch told Entertainment Weekly:

Alan was a Method actor, so we were all pretty much terrified of him on set... But the memory that sticks out to me was we were allowed to bring guests [to the set]... Alan Rickman, pretty much every day of filming, he had a whole troop of little children [visiting]. It was the most bizarre scene to see Snape in this black robe... surrounded by all these happy little children who were just chatting away to him.
(#2) He Used His 'Harry Potter' Paychecks To Treat Friends And Colleagues To Dinner

Rickman became known among his friends and colleagues for frequently treating those around him to dinner, whether on set or off. Kate Winslet wrote about an anecdote she heard at his memorial service for Entertainment Weekly:

At Al's memorial, Juliet Stevenson told the story of how whenever Al would go out to supper, and anyone else would try and pay, he would somehow have phoned ahead or slipped his credit card ahead of the meal, so no one even got a look at the check. He'd just say, "I’ve got two words for you: Harry Potter." And he became known for doing that.
(#7) He Smoothed Things Over With Tim Allen With Wine And Chocolate Ice Cream

In 1999, Rickman costarred with Tim Allen in the movie Galaxy Quest. But their first meeting didn't go very well. Allen said in The Hollywood Reporter, "I don’t think [Rickman] liked me all that much when we first started shooting."

One of the issues may have been Allen's quirky sense of humor. For example, when he learned that Rickman studied with famed acting teacher Uta Hagen, Allen said, "I went to the Uta Haagen-Dazs School."

When Rickman and Allen later became friends, Allen remembers that Rickman "came to my house with a bottle of wine and chocolate Haagen-Dazs as a peace offering and said, 'This is for you because whoever taught you taught you very well.'"
(#9) He Met With Friends Over Pizza To Rewrite Bad Scenes In 'Robin Hood'

In 1991, Rickman portrayed the evil Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. In 2015, Rickman admitted that he and his friends rewrote some of the film's "terrible" scenes over dinner at Pizza Express. Comedian Ruby Wax and playwright Peter Barnes recall rewriting one scene in particular that ended up becoming perhaps the most memorable - and funniest - in the film.

According to Rickman, Barnes told him, "You should have a wench in a doorway, and then you should say, 'You. My room, 10:30,' and then turn to the other wench and say, 'You, 10:45.''' Wax then told him to add the line, "And bring a friend." Director Kevin Reynolds put it in the movie.
(#1) He Protested When The Crew Of 'Rasputin' Didn't Get A Decent Lunch

Rickman won a Golden Globe for his performance in the 1996 telefilm Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny. During filming, Rickman was anything but a dark servant. As costar Ian McKellan, who played Tsar Nicholas II, remembered in a Facebook post, "He discovered that the local Russian crew was getting an even worse lunch than the rest of us. So he successfully protested."

Rickman also stood up for McKellan, who was reportedly being picked on by the director during filming. As McKellan recalled:

On my first day before the camera, he didn't like the patronizing, bullying tone of a note which the director gave me. Alan, seeing I was a little crestfallen, delivered a quiet, concise resume of my career and loudly demanded that the director up his game.