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Oh jeez, well, I guess I have today's DE, and since...welp, all I'm doing right now is sitting here being a little dazed about Alan Rickman, here, though I know there's already a post on this:

Favorite Alan Rickman roles? Memories?

(Me, I first saw him in Truly, Madly, Deeply, so he was never a go-to villain actor in my mind. But Galaxy Quest is still my first thought for Alan Rickman, whether that's good or bad.)

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I used to have (possibly still have, somewhere on an external hard drive) a recording of him reading Sonnet 130 (that I got off the internet, I didn't make it!). Just gorgeous.

Edited 2016-01-14 14:59 (UTC)

This?

It's from When Love Speaks. Really cool record.

I was at the 'When Love Speaks' RADA gala, with the Nazgul, in 2002, high up in the 'gods' of the theatre it took place in, among the students and enthusiasts with little money -- we heard him recite it live, and we saw the Eurythmics revival. It was a very, very historic event.

I have the CD -- if you don't find it, I can rip it for you. OF COURSE we bought the CD at the live gala.

I went ahead and put on Galaxy Quest tonight, and actually got pretty teary when he said the "Grabthar's Hammer" speech at the end.

And I did also get to see him live one time in Private Lives, so I feel pretty lucky for that.

The Nazgul and I saw him in 'Private Lives' as well, and did the stage door thing.

For me, Alan Rickman will always be Metatron from Dogma.

Oh god, yes, I forgot about Metatron -- I will need to re-watch that, too.

Same here. I don't know for sure that it was the first thing I saw him in, but it was the first thing I noticed him in. (Which probably means it was the first thing I saw him in, really.)

It was that otherwise awful Robin Hood movie for me. My parents still refer to him as "The hilarious Sheriff of Nottingham. With the voice! And the dull spoon!" So, yeah. Alan Rickman is forever linked to the "Because it's dull, you twit, it'll hurt more" line in my head.

Then I think about Colonel Brandon and Galaxy Quest. And so many others.

Edited 2016-01-14 15:24 (UTC)

This one really hit home, even worse than Bowie. The Nazgul and I will hold a movie retrospective of mourning on Sunday, for both of them...

Perhaps we should start earlier than usual.

Dogma was one of those formative movies of my youth, and I'm pretty sure it's the first time I ever saw Alan Rickman in anything, so -- yeah, like Leesha, he'll always be the surly Voice of God to me. But I also adored him in Galaxy Quest, and Prince of Thieves, and of course the Harry Potter movies, and ah, dammit. Dammit dammit DAMMIT.

That's about all I have to say on the matter, aside from him playing the best villains and heroes/protagonists.

Yes.

#accurate

(y)

Earliest memory of him was in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves ("Because it's blunt, you idiot, it'll hurt more!"), then as the wonderful Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility. Loved him immediately. Loved his snark as Metatron in Dogma. I do enjoy him as Severus Snape in all the Harry Potter films, but I don't think it was his best role ever.

I will probably forever enjoy watching him dance at a gas station in this music video: In Demand Texas.

Edited 2016-01-14 16:00 (UTC)

Heh, yeah I have always thought that when using a spoon.

Die Hard. Because that's what it was. I saw it when it came out on VHS, and it's been one of my favorite action movies, AND my favorite Christmas movie, ever since.

In 2011 he was in an Ibsen play called John Gabriel Borkman, which was at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I got to see it and did the stage door thing. Let me just copy pasta from my LJ what I wrote about that:

And an odd thing happened: as soon as his silver-haired head popped out of the doorway, a hush fell upon the crowd. Seriously. A hush fell. I'd never heard a hush fall quite like this before. Everyone gathered in a fairly wide, quiet, and polite circle around Alan as if they knew their places, and he went around from person to person in order as they stood, signing whatever they had for him to sign. It was so very different from the mob that had gathered after Daniel Radcliffe's Equus, with the teenage harpy who pushed past me saying, "Get out of my way, I'm his number one fan!"

As he signed, some dude asked, "Can I be your apprentice?" at which the fans laughed, and he gave a bemused barely-there smile as if to say, "You're going to have to try harder than that to amuse me, sonny." One thing I can say about his interaction with fans is that he is very Patient. He's kind and obliging, but also very Patient, with a capital P. I don't know what it is. His Patience is almost palpable. Sometimes people would give him their own pens to sign with. Twice I heard him murmur, "Doesn't work." Now, I know he wasn't being mean or disapproving, however, if you'd heard his voice, I'm sure you would be SHAMED FOREVER for giving Alan Rickman a pen that didn't work. Seriously, WHO GIVES ALAN RICKMAN A PEN THAT DOESN'T WORK?

Eventually he asked, "Have I signed for everyone? Is that it? Okay." And I was like, "Noooo, waaaait!" and I stuck my program out between two people standing in front of me. "Oh, one more," he said, and proceeded to sign it. That's when I got blabberty blabby, like I do, and I just stood there and told told him, "I just need to tell you, that I've lived in Brooklyn for over 30 years. Die Hard was one of my favorite moves as a kid. Never, ever did I imagine that Hans Gruber would be performing in a play in my neighborhood. So thank you for this." He bestowed upon me a benevolent smile with a gracious incline of his head and I was like OH MY GOD in my brain and I had to back out of that circle or else I would fall apart or something.

Yes, we got that hush as well in 2002 after 'Private Lives' -- and when he was done with us all, he walked away through the side alley where the stage door was, into the slight mist of a February London night, collar up and all by himself, towards his waiting minicab -- you know, one of those poshed-up family vans celebrities are really driven around in?

We all followed him with our eyes, and nobody said a word.

ETA: Now with picture!

Edited 2016-01-14 20:15 (UTC)

Galaxy Quest. Which is a favorite film in general. Rickman as Sir Alexander Dane - somehow, he was knighted despite spending 15 years at Creation Cons and mall openings - was the perfect choice for an actor who probably sometimes wondered what he was doing in certain films. I suspect like so many stage actors, even the best film role was never as good as doing it live in front of real people. That frustration boils over so well, even as he somehow manages to find, if not his inner Dr Lazarus, at least his inner Henry V.

And a special mention for Sweeney Todd. As many have said, he was a fine villain, and I think he brought the right tone to a character who could easily be lost when the title character was on the screen.

My first exposure to him, like many others, was Die Hard, but I really Noticed him in Truly Madly Deeply where he plays Jamie, a man who has died and comes back to comfort his wife. He plays cello and sings and is wonderful and amazing and I need to watch it again.

And of course Metatron from Dogma--I think I even played Metatron for a hot minute back in the day?--and Col. Brandon and Severus Snape, and I am embarrassed to say I have not seen Galaxy Quest as many times as a proper Trekkie should. I need to remedy that.

I was obsessed with the Robin Hood he was in when I was a kid. I rented that video like 15 times.

Edit:

Also, would it be acceptable to just go back to bed?

Edited 2016-01-14 19:27 (UTC)

I seriously can't believe this has happened. Out of nowhere, just like Bowie. Ugh. Awful.

Anyway, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was my obsession for a while thanks to him, followed really soon after by Die Hard. And then everything he did after, because he's wonderful and this week is gross and I just want to get to the end of it before anyone else dies.

**wrapping everybody relevant that I care about in cotton wool for the duration**

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