Which question not to ask Alan Rickman
Interviews with Alan Rickman are rare in German film magazines, but for his upcoming film Snow Cake either Alan Rickman or the magazine Cinema made an exception. There's a shortish interview with him in the November edition, which I translated into English.

"I will never achieve perfection as an actor"

"Professor Snape" speaks about his work ethics, strange experiences in Hollywood and his way of fighting stage fright

It’s good not to see you as a sinister character for once. Did you feel liberated somehow when you played the role?

No, and what is "for once" supposed to mean? I have played many different roles. Unfortunately the people and apparently you as well only remember my most successful films, Die Hard, Robin Hood or Harry Potter. But I don’t have any influence on the production budget and on the success of a film. In each role I invest the same amount of energy and intensity – no matter whether it’s a huge Hollywood production or a comparatively small production like Snow Cake.

Is the shooting of an expensive film identical to the one of a low budget production?

Well, the producers of Hollywood films usually don’t like it when the actors rehearse beforehand. For example, the producers of Galaxy Quest made a huge fuss because they thought we were just wasting time. It was different with Snow Cake: together with all the actors the director perused the script line by line for one week.

Is it necessary for an experienced actor like yourself to prepare in detail?

Each of my roles profits when I do so. I remember it very well how I analysed Hans Gruber, the bad guy in Die Hard. I wanted to know what he eats for breakfast, where he comes from and how he thinks. The director didn’t care about these details, but I think that the way I portrayed Hans Gruber was more believable because of them. The same goes for Snape in Harry Potter. And I wouldn’t survive on the stage without preparing myself. I suffer from terrible stage fright. I never get rid of the fear that I might lose my concentration or forget my lines.

And how do you manage to play your roles?

I try to channel my stage fright into positive energy, but I don’t manage to do it every time. There are single takes in a film where I screw up or moments on stage when my portrayal becomes unbelievable. It’s technique that saves me in moments like these. I learnt that technique.

What exactly did you learn?

As an actor you’re just a channel, a medium that conveys the author’s text to the audience. You have to eliminate everything that prevents you from doing so, which means that you have to overcome your blockades and your bad habits. Only like this can you directly absorb the text and share it with the audience. But it’s not enough to know your own lines only. It’s at least as important to react to the other actors’ lines. If you really know how to listen, your reactions and dialogues will be natural and free. You have to be as unselfconscious as possible, almost like a child. Only then will your acting be spirited.

By now you can look back onto roles in 41 films. Can you say in which one your acting was the most spirited?

No, I can’t. I can only name the films where I’m content with my work. One of them is Snow Cake by the way. But this judgement only refers to my impressions when the film was shot because I avoid watching my films afterwards. I only would realise which mistakes I made and what I could have done better. A nightmare.

What do you think: will you ever achieve perfection as an actor?

No, I won’t. The longer I do the job, the better I understand which unimagined possibilities it offers, and the more I realise that I will never be able to fathom all of these areas with my limited abilities.

Perhaps you should go to Hollywood to get rich at least?

God help me! Of course I want to earn a decent salary. This is why I argue for British actors who take part in a Hollywood production to get paid the same as their American colleagues – apart from the big stars of course. But I could never imagine living in Los Angeles. Everything there seems to be so strangely easy. You drive in a car and do whatever you want. For me that is as if I would eat fast food all the time – disgusting and wonderful at the same time – but never a permanent condition.

So you like being British?

Absolutely. Actually I’m really proud of it. None of my colleagues in Britain have as big an ego as the American stars. No one needs an entourage of cooks and fitness coaches. Everyone just wants to do his job and do it as well as possible.