Late last night news broke that Alan Rickman, British giant of worldwide cinema, had lost his battle with cancer at age 69.
Since the devastating announcement, tributes from those fortunate enough to have worked with him have poured in.
Among the most prominent of them all was actress Emma Thompson’s statement. The two worked together on numerous films, including Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually, and Rickman’s directorial debut The Winter Guest.
Via the New York Times, Thompson wrote:
“Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have just kissed him goodbye.
What I remember most in this moment of painful leave-taking is his humour, intelligence, wisdom, and kindness. His capacity to fell you with a look or lift you with a word.
That intransigence which made him the great artist that he was — his inedible and cynical wit, the clarity with which he saw most things, including me, and the fact that he never spared me the view. I learned a lot from him.
He was the finest of actors and directors. I couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do with his face next. I consider myself hugely privileged to have worked with him so many times and to have been directed by him.
He was the ultimate ally. In like, art and politics. I trusted him absolutely.
He was, above all things, a rare and unique human being and we shall not see his like again.”
Other famed faces who have paid tribute include Harry Potter co-stars Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe.
“I’m very sad to hear about Alan today. I feel so lucky to have worked and spent time with such a special man and actor. I’ll really miss our conversations. RIP Alan. We love you,” Watson wrote via her official Facebook page.
Radcliffe, typically social media-shy, wrote through Google+: “Alan Rickman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with. He is also, one of the loyalest and most supportive people I’ve ever met in the film industry”.
“He was so encouraging of me both on set and in the years post-Potter. I’m pretty sure he came and saw everything I ever did on stage both in London and New York. He didn’t have to do that.”
“It might surprise some people to learn that contrary to some of the sterner (or downright scary) characters he played, Alan was extremely kind, generous, self-deprecating and funny. And certain things obviously became even funnier when delivered in his unmistakable double-bass.”
Rickman’s charismatic and distinct screen and stage presence is one that will leave behind a sore void, to be noticed by both younger and older audiences. Rest In Peace Alan Rickman, 21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016.
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