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I never expected to have any kind of film career, to be honest. It was all a bit of a surprise. But I was in a big hit play on Broadway. America, as many people will say, says yes more often than we do. And so I was suddenly surrounded by people saying yes. But I was aware that was 'cause of what I was in. It had a big impact.
Alan Rickman -
I like it when stories are left open.
Alan Rickman
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On the screen were some flashback shots of Daniel, Emma and Rupert from ten years ago. They were 12. I have also recently returned from New York, and while I was there, I saw Daniel singing and dancing (brilliantly) on Broadway. A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes.
Alan Rickman -
Do you know that moment when you paint a landscape as a child and, when you’re maybe under seven or something, the sky is just a blue stripe across the top of the paper? And then there’s that somewhat disappointing moment when the teacher tells you that the sky actually comes down in amongst all the branches. And it’s like life changes at that moment and becomes much more complicated and a little bit more boring, as it’s rather tedious to fill in the branches…
Alan Rickman -
Each character I play has different dimensions. I'm not interested in words that pull them together.
Alan Rickman -
I approach every part I'm asked to do and decide to do from exactly the same angle: who is this person, what does he want, how does he attempt to get it, and what happens to him when he doesn't get it, or if he does?
Alan Rickman -
Being on the stage in New York is always exciting because you feel like you're part of the life of the city.
Alan Rickman -
I have every sympathy for writers. It's a mystery to me what they do. I can edit. I can cross out and say, 'I'm not saying that' or, 'How about we move this to here? Wouldn't that make that bit of the story better?' But where any of it comes from is beyond me. I will never write a play or a novel.
Alan Rickman
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I was a student in London in the '70s, so CBGB really wasn't on my radar at all. Obviously, I was aware of the emergence of the Police in England and as an art student, I was very aware of David Byrne, but I suppose my musical taste at that time certainly didn't stretch towards the Dead Boys or the Ramones.
Alan Rickman -
I don't play villains, I play very interesting people.
Alan Rickman -
Somebody with Debbie Reynolds' features doesn't get cast as the Wicked Witch.
Alan Rickman -
Film has to be reflecting the world that we live in, and that's all you want to be a part of. Actors inhabit the same planet as everyone else. It's a weird thing that happens when you're an actor because people hold you up because you somehow embody in parts groups of people or people's hopes or something.
Alan Rickman -
I always feel that when I come to Edinburgh, in many ways I am coming home.
Alan Rickman -
Acting is mostly about listening. If you just focus in on what the other person is saying, acting takes care of itself to quite a large extent.
Alan Rickman
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On film you put all your energies into a single glance.
Alan Rickman -
If you spend any time in Los Angeles, there's only one topic of conversation.
Alan Rickman -
I am the character you are not supposed to like.
Alan Rickman -
Who I am gets in the way of people looking innocently at the parts I play.
Alan Rickman -
I have just returned from the dubbing studio where I spoke into a microphone as Severus Snape for absolutely the last time.
Alan Rickman -
The directors you trust the most are the ones, when you ask them a question, they've got the guts to say, 'I don't know.'
Alan Rickman
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My parents certainly didn't have anything to do with the theater. I'm some kind of accident.
Alan Rickman -
When I am asked about influences, I always say I bow down to Fred Astaire, because when you look at him dancing you never look at his extremities, do you? You look at his centre. What you never see is the hours of work that went into the routines, you just see the breathtaking spirit and freedom.
Alan Rickman -
I do take my work seriously and the way to do that is not to take yourself too seriously.
Alan Rickman -
Certainly as actors, and maybe as directors, you've got to hang on to something childlike. You've got to know what play is. I haven't worked with Mike Leigh, but I know him very well and there's something open in his eyes about what's in front of him. And the same is true of Alfonso in a Mexican, mad way. There's an enthusiastic response to something. Neil Jordan, the same, when he gets excited . You just want to know there's a human being in there.
Alan Rickman