Alan Rickman. Information on the actor who plays Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, including a brief biography and Alan Rickman pictures.

Rickman worked extensively with various British repertory and experimental theatre groups including The Seagull, Snoo Wilson's The Grass Widow at the Royal Court and appeared three times at the Edinburgh International Festival. During this period, he did occasional television work, in roles from Shakespearean drama to LeCarré's international intrigue. While working with the Royal Shakespeare Company he starred in, among other things, As You Like It. His casting in The Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses as Le Vicomte de Valmont won him critical and popular acclaim as the elegant and heartless seducer. When the show came across the Atlantic in 1986, Rickman came with it to Broadway and there earned a Tony nomination for his performance.

It was during his stint on Broadway that he was approached by Joel Silver and offered a role in the first Die Hard film in which Rickman's unique interpretation of the villainous Hans Gruber garnered worldwide attention and set a chilling new standard for screen "bad guys." Since then, Rickman has appeared in over two dozen films.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which he plays Professor Snape, is in post production and will hit theatres in Nov 2005. He will continue playing the Potions Master in the 4th installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is currently being filmed in England. He will also be very busy this year with Snow Cake (with Sigourney Weaver & Carrie-Anne Moss) scheduled to start filming in April 2005 in Canada and Perfume: the Story of a Murderer (with Dustin Hoffman), this Summer in Germany and Barcelona. We can also look forward to seeing him in the new film, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, released at theatres on April 29th.

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