A Farewell to Alan Rickman

This may sound silly but this morning, I stood in the kitchen with my cup of coffee – and I cried. I was reading article after article about Alan Rickman and all the great roles he has played and tears just streamed down my face. Now I know it might sound strange because I didn’t know him personally, but on some level, I feel like I did.

Harry Potter

I was a “late comer” to the Harry Potter series. I read the books after all 7 had been written and 5 of the movies had been released. My husband was in the U.S. Navy and was deployed. We had no kids at the time and frankly, I was bored. I needed to find something to do. I had heard it was an incredible series so I picked up the first one. I read them all fairly quickly (in just a couple of weeks) because I just could not seem to put them down.

I remember sending my husband email after email talking about Severus Snape. How I knew he just had to be good deep down and how much I loved the character. Many emails, where my brain and opinions were going back and forth “He just can’t be bad!” “I knew he had a heart!” “Wait, how could he do that to Dumbledore? Not my Severus!”.  Harry Potter is now one of my favorite book AND film series – because of Severus Snape. I adore that character. Something about him. How kind he truly is. How much he loved Lily. The things he sacrificed for Harry, when he didn’t have to.

A Sad Goodbye

I loved him so much that when we got two cats a little bit later, it just seemed right that we name them Severus and Sirius (and later on a Bellatrix came). After seeing the films, I loved Snape even more, which I never thought possible. I knew his true character because I had read all the books and wow – Alan Rickman played him perfectly. If you didn’t know the story, you would be back and forth on him, just as I was when I read the books. He played a straight face when he needed to. I sobbed when he died in the film. Sobbed. What an incredible talent that man was, and what a loss this world is dealing with right now (especially having lost David Bowie just a few short days ago).

As you might know, I have a Funko Pop Collection. Just this past weekend I was at the mall with my family and happened across a Severus Snape Funko Pop Figure. I was thrilled and snatched it right up. I collect pops and had been looking for this particular one for quite some time. Today, I look at it a little but differently than I did earlier this week.

Other Work

There are countless other amazing roles that we all know Alan from (Die Hard, Love Actually, & Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), but Severus Snape is the one that sticks with me. From the beginning, something about him drew me in. I suppose it is true “Death comes for us all in the end.” Many are shedding tears for you today – and you will never be forgotten.

Rest in peace Alan Rickman, rest in peace.

Tessa Smith

Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.

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