I told Alan what lies behind the word ‘always’. https://t.co/NHTJ5J6kxb — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 18, 2016

Alan Rickman wasn’t always sold on the idea of playing Snape. It’s true; we could be living in a world where we never would have had Rickman’s singularly unique dulcet tones muttering about potions and sectumsempra. It took a few choice words (you know the ones I mean) from J.K. Rowling to get him to fully understand the depth of Snape’s character and into the robes—the “unchanging costume,” as he put it.

Before all the books were out, when the first movie was being developed, long, long before Deathly Hallows, Rowling shared the secret behind the word “always” with Rickman. That means he knew about Snape and Lily and what would become the series’ penultimate major reveal. It’s interesting to think about because first (and most obviously), it helped Rickman’s performance, allowing him to weave in the undertones about Snape’s love from day one. Second, he’s apparently the only other person aside from Rowling to know about this, so he was often at odds with directors when he was being asked to do something he knew Snape would never do.

When you boil it down, Rowling essentially helped Rickman method act, because she shared a secret with him that he had to keep for his entire life—just like Snape.

@AshleyKSmalls I know exactly how you feel. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 18, 2016

Years from now, when this is all history, will we still have feelings about all this?

(via The Daily Dot)

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