Alan Rickman says festivals changed his life -
Actor who plays Snape Summary:
Nearly three decades ago, in his first appearance on an Edinburgh stage, Alan Rickman appeared in the playwright John Barnes’ adaptation of Ben Jonson’s play The Devil is an bottom. He was just out of drama school, and it was his first major part
Article:
Thanks to Wizardnews
Quote:
HARRY Potter actor Alan Rickman has told how Edinburgh festivals have delivered some of the seminal experiences of his working life.*
Nearly three decades ago, in his first appearance on an Edinburgh stage, Rickman appeared in the playwright John Barnes’ adaptation of Ben Jonson’s play The Devil is an bottom. He was just out of drama school, and it was his first major part.*
Rickman, now an acclaimed stage and screen actor made famous for a new generation by his Harry Potter role, made a lightning visit to Edinburgh at the weekend to see the play Swansong, directed by his friend Conor McDermottroe. The two men are working on a film project together.*
He was hoping to catch actors Christian Slater and Frances Barber in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but the show has been delayed by Slater going down with chickenpox.*
"I was hoping to see Christian and Frances, but I think I will wait until he’s better. We were in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves together," he said.*
The actor said he thought the Fringe had lost some of its "theatrical clout" in recent years due to the growing role of comedy shows. "Its reputation now is more about stand-up, which I find sad," he said.*
But he added: "I’ve had some of the most profound theatrical experiences of my life up here. Scotland is inextricably tied up with my life."*
Rickman grew nostalgic when he drove past the university halls where he once stayed.*
"He has fond memories of doing shows here," McDermottroe said. "He tries to get up here for every Festival, even if he is not working."*
Rickman picked out two plays to see at the weekend: When the Bulbul Stopped Singing at the Traverse Theatre, and Fatboy, starring Mike McShane. He also worked with McShane on Prince of Thieves.*
Rickman first acted in Edinburgh in 1976, in a double bill at the Assembly Rooms. He played Friar Peter in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, and Wittipol in The Devil is an bottom. He would later describe his part in Jonson’s play as his first major role.*
"It just defines the word theatre when you come to the Festival," he said. "I’ve had amazing times here."*
Rickman recalled seeing the work of legendary Japanese director Yukio Ninagawa for the first time. Ninagawa’s Macbeth, set in feudal Japan, electrified the Festival in 1985.*
"There are things that change your working life when you see a production," Rickman said.*
In 1991, Rickman was fast becoming a film star, partly on the back of Prince of Thieves. It was after seeing Rickman as the villain in Die Hard, and as the ghost of an amusing lover in Truly, Madly, Deeply that Ninagawa cast him in another Edinburgh production.*
Rickman appeared in The Tango at the End of Winter, with Ninagawa as director, at the King’s Theatre.*
"That was the last time [he appeared on an Edinburgh stage], and it seems long ago," he said.*
Recently, Rickman has become one of the most memorable figures in the series of Harry Potter films as the flamboyantly sinister Professor Severus Snape. It is the latest in a long line of villainous screen roles he’s played - including the Sheriff of Nottingham.*
He said he would be starting work next month on his part in the latest to be filmed, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.*
"I haven’t reported for duty yet. I’ve no idea even where the locations are. My contract doesn’t give out much."*
Rickman wouldn’t be drawn on his plans for any future Harry Potter films. "It’s looking at one movie at a time from here on. It just depends what else you are up to."*
Last year, Rickman was in Love Actually, along with Emma Thompson, with whom he also starred in The Winter Guest.*
Rickman and McDermottroe met on the set of Quigley Down Under in Australia about ten years ago.*
"I was an actor, playing a character employed by Alan to kill Tom Selleck," he said. "We were in Alice Springs in the middle of Australia for about ten weeks. It was not high art."*
They renewed their friendship when McDermottroe later moved to London to work at the National Theatre and start writing.*
Rickman is executive producer on McDermottroe’s film script Waiting for the Healer. It has backing from the Irish Film Board, and Edinburgh’s Moonstone International - linked to the Sundance Institute in the United States - has taken it on for development.*
Swansong is a one-man play set in 1960s Ireland. Its story is launched when a young woman leaves the country to have an abortion. Rickman gave the play glowing praise, saying it had all of the Irish literary inheritance about it. "It’s incredibly powerful, and has brilliant, brilliant acting," he said.
The Scotsman 
They both have deep voices too! 
