Unearthed Alan Rickman letters reveal 'frustration' at his Harry Potter role

Alan Rickman’s brooding Hogwarts professor Severus Snape may have become one of the most pivotal characters in the world of the Harry Potter movies, but it seems that as far as the actor was concerned, it wasn’t always the case.

In an archive of the late actor’s personal papers, which are set to be auctioned later this week, it appears that Rickman was ‘frustrated’ with the role.

It’s revealed in a note from the Harry Potter producer David Heyman.

Following the 2002 release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second movie in the series, Heyman wrote in a postcard to Rickman: “Thank you for making HP2 a success. I know, at times, you are frustrated but please know that you are an integral part of the films. And you are brilliant.”

The note seems to imply that Rickman felt that Snape’s role was not receiving its due, a notion bolstered by a later note Rickman wrote during the making of 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Under a heading called ‘Inside Snape’s Head’, Rickman wrote: “It’s as if [the film’s director] David Yates has decided that this is not important in the scheme of things i.e. teen audience appeal.”

The notes are among a trove of correspondence to and from Rickman, who died in 2016, which also includes letters from Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and the Prince of Wales.

It also includes a note from J.K. Rowling, who thanks Rickman for ‘doing justice to my most complex character’, along with Rickman’s original scripts from movies like Die Hard and Truly, Madly, Deeply.

In all, the collection has been valued at £950,000.

Neil Pearson, the BAFTA nominated actor, who is also a bookseller, is working the Rickman’s estate in the sale of the papers.

“It’s a fabulous collection,” he told the Daily Mirror. “There are 35 boxes of it – there is the Truly Madly Deeply script in there and Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves is in there. Every single script of a play or film, all of his diaries and a massive amount of correspondence from pretty much every one you’ve ever heard of.”

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