When actors get involved in major movie franchises, it tends to lead to significant financial success for them personally. Such was the case for Alan Rickman when he got involved in the Harry Potter movies, but he put that money to good use.The actor reportedly went to sometimes extreme lengths in order to be sure nobody else ever picked up a check when eating with him. According to his friend and co-star Kate Winslet, Rickman would always credit the boy wizard when paying.
He was always a great big softy. If there was one word I could use to really describe Al, it would be kind. He was so kind. At Al's memorial, Juliet Stevenson told the story of how whenever Al would go out to supper and anyone else would try and pay, he would somehow have phoned ahead or slipped his credit card ahead of the meal so no one even got a look at the check. He'd just say, 'I've got two words for you: Harry Potter.' And he became known for doing that.
According to Vanity Fair, when Alan Rickman passed away he left an estate valued at some $5 million. A large portion of that was, of course, due to his decade-long stretch playing Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film franchise. It would appear that Rickman really enjoyed using his newfound wealth to the benefit of his friends. This is especially touching when one realizes that most of those who were the beneficiaries of this generosity probably had little trouble picking up the check themselves. We're guessing Kate Winslet could handle paying for her own meal just find, and probably the rest of the table too. Still, it was so important to Rickman that he do this nice thing, that he made sure it happened by dealing with it long before anybody else ever could.
It's like Alan Rickman didn't really feel like the money was his. He only had it because of this Harry Potter guy, and the least he could do since he was given it all was share it with his friends.
When Alan Rickman passed away in 2016 we heard about what a caring and generous person he was from every corner of Hollywood. This is just another example of how true that apparently was. Not only did we lose a great actor when he passed away but a wonderful human being as well.
2016 was an especially painful year as we lost more influential actors, musicians, and other celebrities than we could seemingly count. We're hoping we can write fewer obituaries in 2017. That'd be a nice change of pace in the new year.
