About This Episode

Alan Rickman has played Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies, Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest, Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Metatron, “the voice of the one true God” in Dogma. So what does astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson ask him about in Part 1 of this interview? Failing physics in high school, of course. They also talk a little about acting, including how Alan chooses and prepares for his roles, from researching the heart surgeon in Something the Lord Made to the wine-tasting scene in Bottle Shock. Guest astrophysicist Charles Liu and comic co-host Chuck Nice are both big fans of Alan Rickman – listen for their “impressions” of some of his most famous lines (“By Grabthar’s Hammer…”) in between their discussions of science and science fiction in the studio with Neil.

NOTE: All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: A Conversation with Alan Rickman (Part 1).