Happy Birthday: Alan Rickman (1946–2016)

Alan Rickman (1946–2016)

Born: February 21, 1946 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK
Died: January 14, 2016 (age 69) in London, England, UK

I’ve learned a lot working with Bruce [Bruce Willis] and Kevin [Kevin Costner]. I mean, I’m the one that’s there to learn, actually, in that situation.

The job of directing it is absolutely terrifying. But you realise you’ve learned so much down the line … like Anthony [director Anthony Minghella]’s vulnerability on the set of Truly Madly Deeply (1990). He gathered all the actors together on day one and said: ‘I have one word: help.’ … Ralph [actor and director Ralph Fiennes] gave me another piece of advice, which was, ‘The danger of directing yourself is that you are embarrassed about going for another take.’ [2015]

I don’t play villains, I play very interesting people.

(On his role in Die Hard (1988)) “As far as I’m concerned, I’m…