Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Harmonia (A) on July 18, 2011 at 16:52:11

In Reply to: RE: I hate Harry Potter series for ruining Rickman's career. He's about the posted by tinear on July 17, 2011 at 10:01:27

And if he hadn't been in HP he would have been able to do....what? What movies did HP prevent Rickman from appearing in?

HP has given Rickman several years of nice pay checks. His performances as Snape are one of the highpoints in the series. He was hardly leading man material when he was cast in HP (at age 55) and he's gone on to make a few good movies during the HP era as well as continue his stage work - his career has hardly stalled. You might as well argue that Die Hard or Robin Hood ruined him. I'd rather watch any HP movie than either of those.

I think the HP series, while hardly deathless cinema, is entirely honorable.

In fact, I suspect Rickman's hugely popular turn as Snape may even introduce another generation to his roles in Truly, Madly Deeply, Sense & Sensibility and other films.

He's a wonderful actor but Hollywood has never known exactly what to do with him - like many other gifted British stage actors who never quite make it in American movies (Ralph Fiennes, Rufus Sewell), Rickman often ends up playing villains.

I don't mind. Rickman was never destined for major Hollywood stardom so I'm thrilled to see him in pretty much anything.

British actors look at parts in commercial films and TV as journeyman "work". The paychecks for the commercial stuff don't limit them but in fact allow them to be more choosey about what they do take (mostly theater, as in Rickman's case). Since Snape's screen time is relatively small in each film, it' not like the franchise swept Rickman away for 10 years. He's made interesting movies in this period - Perfume, Snow Cake, Love Actually, Sweeney Todd. He's wonderful in the TV miniseries "Something The Lord Made", which I highly recommend if you haven't seen it. Rickman is currently lensing Gambit for director Michael Hoffman along with co-stars Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci.