Alan Rickman - Something the Lord Made - Part 2

No new news. Alan's name has been popping up in a lot of new tidbits, but mainly only in new cast lists for "The Butler" as new actors are cast. Guess he's just plain busily filming CBGB indoors (since no new exterior candids have surfaced in a while). So here's another pic from SoL to enjoy....

Thing is,even when he's playing a thoroughly unpleasant personality,we try to see through the character to the man...I fully believe if Severus Snape had been played by another actor,there would not be Snape groupies longing for extended detention in the dungeon.

Severus finds the concept of another actor portraying him quite hysterical! Ob...viously...

I was thinking about what you just said the last time I watched RHPoT. I kinda mentally "stepped back" and thought, you know the Sheriff really is an evil, rotten person! Then, sigh, there was Alan behind the mask and all was back to normal...

Oh so true, and he has such wonderful timing at spitting those lines out! Or an ironic turn, or whatever required by the scene. Just such a pleasure.

I know! It's hard not to wish Robin Hood was a few minutes late so George could consummate his marriage and that's so wrong!

And Han's is a cold blood killer,but, like Dumbledore....you can not deny he has style...
and the list goes on....and,happily on.

And before Hans there was the reprehensible Valmont who brought Alan into the spotlight and paved the entryway for Hans... Yep, Alan may cringe at the "villain" word but there've surely been numerous less-than-respectable characters in his past. His true talent is making them dimensional, not just cartoony stereotypes. He once referred to the Sheriff as a cartoon, but I disagree. There is dimension in the Sheriff, though admittedly, not an immense lot due to the limitations of the script. But Alan makes him real and interesting and even funny. Now that I think of it, it's the humor he has added to what would otherwise be very dark roles that adds to the dimension and depth. His acting is like painting in which needs both light and dark colors for dimension. No wonder he thinks of himself as a tube of paint!

I think the "cartoon" reference might have been an allusion to the frenetic energy and spastic motions he put into the Sheriff's onscreen persona. A truly evil man wouldn't have wasted the energy (i.e. Han's cold delivery ) And how could he not put a little camp in when he had to say lines like 'cut your heart out with a spoon' or 'cancel Christmas' 'bring a friend'..

And,that little comedic twist allowed the audience to not take the film as a serious drama,which really helped out Kevin Costner's trouble with the wandering accent.The banter among the merry men,the strong personalities of Marian and Fanny..the humor helped balance the drama and let you have fun with the whole idea of men in tights...non unlike Shakespeare's comic inserts.

even Snape had his "moments". swishes cape in remembrance and stolls off

Alan in Savannah today at Leopold's Ice Cream. Perfect for hot weather... but WHY oh WHY is he wearing a jacket in that heat? Oh yeah... He's British.

Maxe, actually as I recall, the "cartoon" comment in context was referring to the two-dimensionality he felt in the character. I'm sure the humor injected into the Sheriff was a deliberate action by Alan to add some depth to the character, something which Alan has said he does try to do with every part. Kevin Costner should have been taking notes! I recall he said "Closet Land" suffered as a film from having no humor in it. Alan certainly added a lot of humor to Snape, who could easily have been portrayed as bitter and bullying without Alan's insight into how to make his characters have that extra layer of humanity.

Well,yes,I think that's exactly right...and why it works...maybe it's because AR is,at heart,a stage actor...and that automatically means giving a 3 dimensional performance.Film work eliminates that personal interaction with an audience that allows you to adjust your energy level if necessary.
Most of the Sheriff of Nothingham portrayals are haughty,arrogant,bitter
and grasping...powerful wantabes,thwarted by the nobles around them.AR did all that,too,but added a bit of madness in the form of manic energy that was also humorous enough to let the audience in on the joke.This was a man so driven,he had lost his mind but not his sense of humor or irony.
And,yes,there was humor in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood but he was trying so hard to act the part...I think if he had played himself without the accent,balancing his natural style against the obvious challenges of the storyline,he might have come off better...but no way could he have prevented AR from stealing the film.We had to cheer for the Man in Black.

Photo by Bill Dawers

Alan chatting with Stratton Leopold (owner of Leopold's Ice Cream) behind the scenes on CBGB.

Variety reports:

Alan Rickman, A.R. Gurney and Joel Schumacher are all among the creatives on tap for the 2012-13 season at Off Off Broadway's Flea Theater.
Rickman, last on the Gotham boards in Broadway play "Seminar," will star in "Krapp Hour," an new adaptation of Beckett's one-actor show "Krapp's Last Tape" -- about a man listening to recordings of his younger self -- by poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson. Production, targeting a late-August run with exact dates to be set, is produced as part of the Virtual Theater Collaborative, an NEA-backed venture that explores the pairing of vidgame tech and theater.

Playbill comments:

The Flea Theater, under artistic director Jim Simpson and producing director Carol Ostrow, announced the lineup for its 2012-13 Off Off-Broadway season. Tony Award nominee Alan Rickman will star in the company's premiere of Krapp Hour.

Krapp Hour, an adaptation of Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape by Canadian poet Anne Carson, will premiere in late August. Rickman (Seminar) will star as Krapp in the production, which is a part of the Virtual Theater Collaborative, the NEA funding initiative — a partnering of video game technology and professional theatre productions to create a new medium for the performing arts. Rickman's live performance at the Flea will be adapted for use in a video game.

Backstage during "Anthony and Cleopatra" run.

Press Release today:

Gambit Set For November 21st Release

Momentum Pictures, an Alliance Films company, will release the highly anticipated art heist caper, Gambit, starring Academy and BAFTA award winning Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz and Alan Rickman, in the UK and Ireland on 21 November 2012.

Private art curator Harry Deane (Firth) devises a finely-crafted scheme to con England's richest man and avid art collector, Lionel Shabandar, (Rickman) into purchasing a fake Monet painting.

In order to bait his buyer, he recruits a Texas rodeo queen (Diaz) to cross the pond and pose as a woman whose grandfather liberated the painting at the end of WWII.

BAFTA award winner Sir Tom Courtenay, Golden Globe winner Stanley Tucci and Academy Award© winner and veteran comedienne Cloris Leachman round out the cast.

Shot in locations across London and the USA, Gambit is directed by Michael Hoffman (The Last Station) and based on a screenplay written by Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit, No Country for Old Men).

That is one nice photo of The Man...

yes, 'Mam,one nice photo.

And now I am even more interested in seeing the movie. Thanks for the update Always! Yes, that is a very nice, if not clear, photo!

"Anthony and Cleopatra"

Not sure when Gambit's opening in the US. I think Oct. 12 was the last date I heard. Sooner is better!

Cool! Love that shot of him & Helen Mirrim! Nice!

Was looking on IMDB for the Romeo and Juliet version that Alan was in (niece wants to see a version true to the story) and noticed he is slated to played Ronald Reagan in a movie called The Butler. Jane Fonda is to Nancy Reagan. Didn't know if any of you had seen that so thought I'd share.

I know it's Hollywood,and all, but that seems very bizarre casting.

My thoughts exactly. Alan is brilliant beyond belief, just can't picture him as Pres. Reagan and I certainly wouldn't have cast Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan. Hollywood is just to far out there for me with their decision making process.

Hi ladies! Max sent me a very nice message and summoned me here again. Sorry to abandon the thread; as I explained a little in my message, I don't always feel like I have much to contribute to the Alan conversation, and lurking without posting can quickly turn into being lazy and not visiting at all... I am very out of the loop when it comes to Alan news, so I guess that is a great excuse to make sure I visit more often!

How is everybody doing?

I didn't expect to have such a fast response! I'm just happy to see another friendly face.
We've all been bemoaning the lack of AR news..bound to be down times every once in awhile.

Some times it's just ok to talk about his past or theatre in general. I wish some clever marketer would find old tapes of his stage performances and market them for us. I'd love to see some of the early stage work.

So, Potions Mistresses...we're not fussy about getting off topic...what have you been up to?

Not sure if anyone else got one of these but Tamsin sent it to me last year...it still cracks me up.

Hey, Potions, long time, no see! Since the only really new pic of Alan is a really blurry phone shot from last night (or night before) taken in NY, I think Sinclair can just fill in. Feel free to drop in here any time!

Yes, have read the cast lists for "The Butler". I think I may have posted on here before in the past, but can't recall! Frankly the cast list looks to be a whole lot of really weird casting for the various presidents and first ladies, but then I suspect they will be no more than cameos since the movie is actually the bio about the man who was butler for 8 different presidents. Not impressed by the whole thing. Would love to be pleasantly surprised, but don't think it's coming! Come on, Robin Williams as Eisenhower???


Okey dokey, here's the most recent pic, blurry as it is, from NY. Alan still has his beard, so they may still be doing some pickup shots for CBGB before he has to shave it off for "The Butler".

I couldn't get it on camera but my very classy kitty Calvin has been patting the tv screen as Colonel Brandon emotes..he gets on his hind legs and paws the screen (with his claws drawn in) He must like the voice.

Doesn't Rima look a little..well,fearful comes to mind...in that shot?

If these weird casting choices are for cameos ,it makes much more sense...maybe even a little cheekiness if the actors are very much against type when portraying certain presidential couples.

Doesn't Rima look a little..well,fearful comes to mind...in that shot?

Rumor has it that there was a bit of a verbal to do with a rude security guard. Rima does look rather apprehensive, while Alan's stance is ... "protectively aggressive"? Whatever... the situation apparently resolved itself peacefully from all reports.

A security guard rude (maybe) to AR? Hans Gruber? George,Sheriff of Nottingham? A reformed Death Eater??? Are you insane, man?

could be the guard said something nasty about the scruffy beard?

In that stance I could almost see him gathering up his annoyance into the equivalent of "Turn to page 394" (complete with the words being drawn out slooowly)

maybe he should still carry a wand?