Alan Rickman Interviews
Transcripts about Snape

 

Published here August 29, 2006

Thanks to Christiane LadyOfThePensieve for this!  It is published on a German website, but the text is from the French magazine Total Star (April/May 2005, thanks Sionna). Click here to see the original image. And here is my comments and high quality translation since I happen to speak French!! Yeah!

 

Published here August 29, 2006

Premiere of HP3 movie.

Reference: catcollins2.wmv video of a question the reporter asked directly to Alan Rickman. Video file found at HarryPotterFanZone.com & TheDarkLord.net

[Interviewer] You're character is written as not being such a nice guy, but yet you are becoming so popular with the fans, that they love you, they write websites just about your character, what do you think about that?

[Alan Rickman] Well I mean, he's a complicated person and there's clearly a past that's getting worked out through the films. And you have to keep wondering, how come it is that he's saving their lives all the time. Especially in this one.

 

Published here January 22nd, 2006

French Magazine:  Total Stars
Issue: No. 6,
Summer 2004
Interview:  Alan Rickman

Alan Rickman seems tied to the roles of villains and/or shadowy characters…which suits him perfectly, since he portrays them with enormous talent.  In the Harry Potter movies, Alan lends his talents to the mysterious Severus Snape.  But in reality, he is much more smiling than his character!

Has your career changed since your role as Severus Snape?

Honestly, I don't think so.  I was already being offered a lot of interesting parts before I ever became acquainted with Harry and Snape.  Of course the Harry Potter films are a part of my life, but they haven't modified it in any major way.  At least, I don't think so. (smiles)

Snape hides many secrets, can you reveal a few to us?

If I did that, I believe that JK Rowling would make me pay dearly (laughs). 

In fact, I don't know everything, either, of  Snape's past or his motivations.  JK Rowling hasn't revealed all of his secrets yet.  She alone truly knows Snape and what he could be hiding.  A bit more of the character is revealed in the course of the novels, so one just has to be patient and see what unfolds (smiles).  I can simply say that Snape is very rigid and full of himself.  As for what I know about him because JK Rowling agreed to discuss him with me, that must remain secret for the moment.

Did Snape appreciate seeing himself dressed as a woman in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

(laughs)  I would say he must have been truly vexed and unhappy!  Snape isn't one who enjoys jokes and I strongly fear that his sense of humor is extremely limited.  You could say that he deserves his name!  But in his defense, I will add that he didn't have an easy adolescence, particularly during his studies at Hogwarts.  His interactions with Professor Lupin aren't made any easier since they knew each other at that time.  But oops, I won't say more!

What do you think of your young colleagues in the Harry Potter movies?

They are all fantastic.  True professionals.  I can attest to the degree to which they take their work seriously, all the while remaining children.  Their performances have equally progressed enormously in the course of the films.  It's a true joy to perform with these actors who believe so much in what they're doing.  They've all grown up so much since the first Harry Potter, just like their characters.  I think it's great that they can all develop together.

Will you take part in the future Harry Potter films?

If all goes well, it would be with pleasure.  I like very much the way in which the story is evolving.  It's more and more dark and more and more interesting.

Do you prefer to act in the theater or in films?

They're very different…Performing an entire year in the same play is quite sufficient for me.  It doesn't make me want to jump into another right away.  The theater is something very unique.  It gives a lot, but takes a lot in return.  You don't have the right to make a mistake, and you have to give all of your energy for two hours on end.  When you do a film, the pressure is not the same.  You can redo a scene several times and rest between takes.  It's very different but the two genres are interesting experiences.

 

Handbag.com  Interview with Alan Rickman by Carol Muskoron
 
November 22, 2003

The part of Snape seemed so perfect for you... there was something about it which made it look like you were stretched and yet sort of confined at the same time. Did you feel that?
Good way of putting it, actually. Because that's what Snape's like. There are such still waters in there. And the trouble is that there's so much we don't know yet 'cause JK Rowling hasn't revealed it. I know a couple of things about all that, that you don't and I'm not telling...

How do you get the dreadful Snape hair?
Easy. It's a wig.

 

Unreel Magazine  Alan Rickman - Professing the Snape...

Q: Can you tell us a little about your character Professor Snape?
A: Well he's Professor of Potions and the current head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts - the school of wizardry that Harry attends, but he harbours a secret ambition to be a Professor of the Dark Arts. He isn't that taken with Harry though, probably because he finds him a little too popular for a first year pupil I suppose. I think at heart Snape is basically quite an insecure person, he's always longing to be something else that people will really respect like a black magician not just a school master. That's why he envies the more popular and successful boys like Harry. He does have his positive side though even though Harry's a thorn in his side he doesn't let it worry him too much.

Q: In the earlier part of your life you were also in a profession that you wanted to get out of so you could become something else that people would respect more, do you think this was the element of yourself that you brought to the part of Snape?
A: Hmm, that's an interesting question, I'm not sure I can answer it. I don't know if that's for me to judge you'd have to ask the people around me ... family and colleagues. You use yourself in everything you do, but at the same time you've got to have a very clear idea of another person. Otherwise I don't see how you can hand yourself over to it. He's not me. And also perhaps at particular times in your life you recognise certain parts as being closer to you now than they might have been five years ago. But no, every part has to have its own life to me - it isn't just me wiping myself across a stage or screen.

Q: Professor Snape is also a Quidditch referee, does that mean you've now mastered all of the game's rules?
A: No and I don't intend to.

 

Hard Talk interview - November 2001 by Tim Sebastian  

That interview contained nothing more than Tim Sebastien mentioning Rickman was playing the part of Snape and some such details. No revelations there!

 

Jimmy Kimmel Live  November 12th


JK: (he says some things that are inaudible) Addressing a young boy: Jackson, your ten years old ya know this guy from the Harry Potter movies?
Jackson: Yeah
JK: What do you think of him?
Jackson: Evil
JK: He's evil, that’s what I would say earlier. Do kids...
AR: What did I do? I've saved Harry's life all the time.
Jackson: Not in the first one ya know.
[Lady Claudia: See how wrong kids' perception is?  That little 10year old boy said Snape did not save Harry in the first movie while he did!! ]
JK: Something inaudible and then the kid repeats what he said.


JK: Do a lot of children recognize you now?

AR: No, no , no cause I'm careful not to wear that black wig in the street.
JK: Oh is that right, that’s good.
A
R: I could even put the wig on a stick and it would sign autographs.
JK: Oh really but otherwise they don’t give you the eye as they walk pass.
AR: No, no they believe in the story. I'm not him, thankfully.
JK: You're not , that’s good, good for you. Had you read the books before you got involved in this whole thing?
AR: NO, I just read them as we get there ya know so I don’t have a clue (he turns to the 10 year old and asks 'can you tell me what happens in the next one?')
Jackson: Shrugs his shoulders shakes his head no and says 'I don’t know'

  

HarryLatino.com March 22nd, 2004
 
What can you tell us about the new Harry Potter movie?

I don't talk about Harry Potter.

Is that forbidden by the contract?
No, it's just because I don't want to speculate with something in which children's innocence is at stake.

But you are in the third one, aren't you?
Yes.

Have you started the fourth one?
They have. I haven't.

But you'll be there?
Eventually...

 

Prisoner of Azkaban Premiere (See Rickman's answers)

So we’ve heard you know all about Snape’s backstory.
No, I don’t know everything.

Ah. So what are you looking forward to playing with Snape?
Well I’m looking forward to you being surprised by him at all times. I’m certainly not telling you anything! [Shoot.]

What’s your next project?
Well, I have to do Harry Potter four, and I am hoping to do a really interesting couple of films if we can get them in in the meantime.