“[The English language is] so rich and cruel and beautiful, like a fireworks display, and yet it can be so subtle and so crude. Marry that to the stage and something mysterious happens. Don’t ask me what. It’s magical.” - Alan Rickman, Los Angeles Times, 2011.
I was going to write something poignant and poetic to honor Alan Rickman's passing today, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to. Others, who knew him better than I did and can say more than I could, have already done that. Just look up Emma Thompson's beautiful statement on the event of his death, or the comments of his fellow Harry Potter stars. We lost a brilliant actor, and, judging from the comments of those who knew him personally, a kind and wonderful man who was also a deeply loyal friend.
But in this (very brief) blog post I want to focus on this quote from the man himself:
“I think there should be laughs in everything. Sometimes, it’s a slammed door, a pie in the face or just a recognition of our frailties.”
As an actor, Alan Rickman was just as skilled at humor as he was at tragedy; in fact, he often mixed the two. So if you're looking for some laughs in the midst of everything, take a few minutes out of your day to watch this comedy sketch about how an app featuring Severus Snape would work:
Here's to you, Alan Rickman. You'll always be the only Snape to me.
