Alan Rickman

Alan Rickman, Toronto, Nov. 1991

ALAN RICKMAN IS AN ACTOR WHOSE PERSONA SHARPLY BREAKS depending on who describes him. Men regard an almost reptilian squint and sinister manner and see a villain; women respond to his vulpine demeanor and insinuating, sensual voice and say "heartthrob." He's like a Rorschach test for the genders.

I photographed Rickman on assignment for NOW magazine when he was still mostly known for his work on English films and as the vile Hans Gruber in Die Hard, long before Colonel Brandon or Severus Snape. He had, however, appeared just the year before as Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply, and so his career as a (to me) unlikely romantic lead had begun in earnest.

Alan Rickman, Toronto, Nov. 1991

My memory of the shoot - sketchy, as most of my memories are, it seems - is that it happened at the Park Plaza, now the Park Hyatt, in Yorkville. The room was a bit fussy and full of antique furniture but lacking in neutral backgrounds, so I tried to use it as a setting for the actor who, once rooted in a chair in the sweet spot of light in the center of the space, didn't give any indication that he wanted to move.

Alan Rickman, Toronto, Nov. 1991

The shots I got - one roll of 120 film in the Rollei and a roll of 35 in the Nikon - are basically variations on a theme, that theme being "coolly regarding the circling photographer." Rickman's manner was rather languid; I'd almost call it camp. He was clearly trying to make it through the rounds of press by pretending it was all a slight imposition to be endured with faint distaste. Or at least that's how I recall it now.

Alan Rickman, Toronto, Nov. 1991

My daughters don't seem impressed by much of what I've done, but they were clearly amazed that I'd taken photos of Severus Snape. It might turn out to be the defining role of his career - part of me imagines he won't be terribly pleased if it is - so I'm rather pleased that I captured a bit of that gothic menace in at least a couple of these shots, years before the fact.

One of these photos ended up in my portfolio for years, so I must have been pleased with them at the time.

(UPDATE: I just put these pictures up last week, and now there's more bad news, apparently. Alan Rickman died of cancer on Jan. 14, 2016.)