During the filming of the first three ‘Harry Potter’ films, Daniel Radcliffe had enormous fear of Alan Rickman.
The 34-year-old actor and his colleagues Emma Watson and Rupert Grint became world stars as children through the wizarding saga. Rickman, who portrayed the sinister Professor Severus Snape in the film series, intimidated Radcliffe so much at the beginning that the Potter actor was convinced his older co-star hated him.
In a new episode of the podcast ‘Happy Sad Confused,’ the Brit now revealed: “I was so intimidated by Alan Rickman. How could I not be with that voice? Even hearing his voice, you forget how deep it really was until it echoes through you. During the first three films, I was so intimidated by him. I was terrified of him and thought, ‘This guy hates me.’ Eventually, he saw that I really wanted to make it and work on it.”
Radcliffe didn’t know for a long time that Rickman, who died of cancer in 2016 at the age of only 69, was quite impressed by his young colleagues. As part of the podcast, he now saw a clip for the first time in which the legendary actor praised the former child stars for their work.
In the video, Rickman says: “While I only did it for seven weeks a year, they did it for 52 weeks. That was their life from twelve to 22. You watched from the sidelines and sometimes threw them a life preserver because there was so little time.” Radcliffe, visibly emotional at the interview clip, commented on the podcast speechless: “Thank you for showing me that. I’ve never seen that before. Thank you.” Even after the end of ‘Harry Potter,’ the passionate theater actor continued to receive support from his mentor. Radcliffe revealed about his later relationship with Rickman: “He saw every stage performance I did as long as he lived.”
