Skip To Content
  • Harry Potter badge

Alan Rickman Wrote The Perfect Farewell To "Harry Potter"

"A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes."

Actor Alan Rickman, known and loved by many as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, has died of cancer.

Since news of his death, fans on Tumblr have been sharing this letter written by Rickman in 2011 and published in Empire magazine.

I have just returned from the dubbing studio where I spoke into a microphone as Severus Snape for absolutely the last time. On the screen were some flashback shots of Daniel, Emma and Rupert from ten years ago. They were 12. I have also recently returned from New York, and while I was there, I saw Daniel singing and dancing (brilliantly) on Broadway. A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes.

Three children have become adults since a phone call with Jo Rowling, containing one small clue, persuaded me that there was more to Snape than an unchanging costume, and that even though only three of the books were out at that time, she held the entire massive but delicate narrative in the surest of hands.

It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller. Thanks for all of it, Jo.

– Alan Rickman

Thank you for being part of the story, Alan. We will remember you, always.