When J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter play The Cursed Child first hit the stage back in 2016, it was an especially tough year for fans of the series. Severus Snape actor Alan Rickman had earlier in the yeardied at the age of 69, making it a devastating time for the Wizarding World community.
As you can imagine, the loss was still fresh for the Harry Potter author, and she has now opened up about an emotional moment during rehearsals for The Cursed Child. Check it out:
The sad, yet very sweet anecdote was shared by J.K. Rowling on her Twitter after an Italian Harry Potter fan took the time to thank the author for the character of Severus Snape and convincing the late Alan Rickman to play him while she was watching a rerun of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on television.
The story is certainly enough to get fans all in our feels again about the memory of Alan Rickman and the iconic Severus Snape. Alongside his role of Hans Gruber in Die Hard, the actor will always be remembered for playing the Hogwarts professor, with Harry Potter, who spent most of the series at odds with Snape, eventually realizing that he was "the bravest man he ever knew."
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes place nineteen years after the events of The Deathly Hallows, but a time turner in play allowed the story to explore alternate scenarios within the events of the seven-book series. During the runtime of Cursed Child, Severus Snape makes an appearance in a timeline where he survives the Battle of Hogwarts instead of Harry Potter.
J.K. Rowling spent many years on the sets of Harry Potter movies, and when she saw a black wig and long robe, it’d be Alan Rickman underneath it all. It’s easy to imagine a different actor taking over the role for the play might have played mind tricks on the author.
Alan Rickman was one of the few actors in the Harry Potter franchise that J.K. Rowling actually disclosed information about his character before the storylines had been written. Rickman had often been typecast as the villain and he was growing weary of it. Rowling didn’t disclose everything she had in mind for Snape to Rickman, but she did tell him “what lies behind the word ‘always’” – the character’s famed line in the franchise.
J.K. Rowling allegedly just finished recovering from COVID-19, saying she had the symptoms, but was never tested. Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe has also been victim to rumors of being the first celebrity with the virus. Rowling recently launched a website called Hogwarts At Home for quarantined fans, and an audiobook version of her collection of stories The Tales of Beedle the Bard came out last week.
Fantastic Beasts 3 is expected for a November 21, 2021 release date, but its planned shooting schedule has been delayed due to the coronavirus, along with many other movies. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more Harry Potter news.
