10 Stories About Alan Rickman That Prove He Was A Man Of Infinite Kindness

Rigorous, serious and even dark — these are the impressions people might get of Alan Rickman, thanks to his more popular roles on the big screen. But in reality, the beloved British actor was sensitive and cared immensely for everyone around him. From his family and friends to his fans or mere strangers, he kept spreading love everywhere he went.

O awesome.club was touched by the stories told by different people about Alan Rickman, and can’t wait to share them with you!

His friend, actress Juliet Stevenson, told a story of how Alan used his fees from the role in Harry Potter to take care of your friends. When they went out to dinner with him and someone tried to pay, Alan always sneaked out first and paid with a credit card. That way, he ensured that no one had the opportunity to see the bill. If anyone tried to object, he would just reply, “I have two words for you: Harry Potter.”

Another friend said: “He desperately wanted people to use all their talent and he hated it when friends put themselves down. I once said with a laugh, ‘The university suggested I do a PhD, but I’m not bright enough to do a PhD.’ He scolded me for underestimating my own potential, for taking the easy way out, and for not tackling something that was difficult but could be taken seriously. He took me back to his apartment, we met with his partner, Rima, who was a university professor, and from that moment on I took the first step towards becoming Dr. Peter Kyle”.

His fellow actors used to admire Alan for how much he mentored, motivated and cared for them throughout their careers. One shared: “Alan Rickman was one of my first heroes. He is an alumnus of my university and he did a very inspiring Q&A while I was there. An example of advice he gave was, ‘Make sure you constantly do things that get you out of bed in the morning.’ And that never left my mind. And when Hans Gruber, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Colonel Brandon, Jamie and Snape tell you how to live your life, listen to them.”

In the 1990s, a friend of Alan’s was part of a small group of people who were creating a relief organization. They needed money to support their operations. Alan volunteered to help out and play a show at the Brighton Dome in the UK to raise money. But for him, delivering a check was never enough. They flew together to northeast Romania to work at an orphanage supported by the money he helped raise. The children loved him.

He has been involved in charitable activities throughout his life and has continually worked to help people in need. He reportedly donated £100,000 in his will ($137,000) to charity.

A reporter shared her experience working with him: “I had the great pleasure of interviewing Alan several times as a journalist. When I spilled a drink on my dress during an interview, he just took me by the hand and walked across the street to buy me a new one at a store.”

Justin Long recalled his early career experience when he started working with Alan: “When I started working with him on the movie Heroes Out of Orbit, I was a wide-eyed young actor making my first movie. But he treated everyone the same. He always sat down and had lunch with the team. If he needed to, he would stay and play off-camera for other actors. He was equally generous in his downtime, allowing me and Jeremy Howard to extract information from his brain, like hungry young vultures.”

The actor’s first film role was the character Hans Gruber in Hard to kill. Even though this role brought him a lot of recognition, he joked about how he got it: “I won Hard to kill because I was cheap. They were paying Bruce Willis $7 million, so they had to find people they didn’t have to pay almost anything to.”

Over the course of his brilliant career, Alan built a reputation as an actor who played very serious roles. However, deep down he was a very kind person and very close to children. During the filming of Harry Potter, Alan could be seen in full attire as Professor Snape, surrounded by a crowd of children happily chatting with him.

One fan told another story touching of his meeting with the actor when he was still very young: “When I was 6 years old, I met Alan Rickman at a party. I was scared, but he promised me it wasn’t Snape. As I was leaving, he blew me a kiss.”

“This was outside the stage door of the Golden Theater in Manhattan, USA. My sister and I saw him perform in the play Seminar and he was amazing. He had hundreds of fans waiting for autographs, and yet he took the time to sign everything. It was a wonderful experience,” recalled one fan.

What is your favorite Alan Rickman character? Let’s talk about your best performances in the comments!