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SNIPE AT SNAPE

Harry Potter actor Alan Rickman was ‘frustrated’ at his character’s development

Despite his gripes the Bafta-winner held onto all eight scripts from the hit series, which will be auctioned alongside letters

Alan Rickman as Snape

HARRY Potter actor Alan Rickman complained about his role as Severus Snape and said he was “frustrated” by a lack of character development, a stash of personal papers has revealed.

The RADA-trained luvvie, who died in 2016 aged 69, worried about the wizard’s “narrative” and made notes under the heading “Inside Snape’s Head”.

 Alan Rickman thought his character Snape should have been developed more in the movies
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Alan Rickman thought his character Snape should have been developed more in the movies

Despite his gripes the Bafta-winner held onto all eight scripts from the hit series, which will be auctioned alongside letters.

One postcard, from producer David Heyman, said: “Thank you for making HP2 a success. I know, at times, you are frustrated but please know that you are an integral part of the films. And you are brilliant.”

The actor himself wrote about the character’s development: “It’s as if [the director] David Yates has decided that this is not important in the scheme of things i.e. teen audience appeal.”

 Alan Rickman, pictured, died in 2016 aged 69
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Alan Rickman, pictured, died in 2016 aged 69Credit: Reuters
 Alan Rickman as Snape, alongside Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter
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Alan Rickman as Snape, alongside Daniel Radcliffe in Harry PotterCredit: Alamy

Other items in the £950,000 collection include a handwritten Christmas message from a young Daniel Radcliffe and a letter from Nicole Kidman.

Another letter from author JK Rowling, penned after 2011’s Deathly Hallows Part II, said: “Had to send a line about what you wrote in the souvenir programme for Hallows II. Made me very tearful.
“Thank you for doing justice to my most complex character.”

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