Gary Oldman is sharing warm memories of his late Harry Potter co-star Alan Rickman, revealing a quiet, ongoing tradition Rickman kept up throughout the franchise’s production.
Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, September 10, Oldman, who played Sirius Black across four of the films, described Rickman as someone who brought genuine joy and generosity to the sets far beyond his brooding on-screen persona as Severus Snape.
“Alan was kind of like the cheerleader of it,” Oldman said. “He was into it, he was doing it, so he was with it and committed to it.”
According to Oldman, Rickman made a habit of inviting children to visit the set on a near-daily basis.
“He would bring them in from a school, he’d bring them in from the hospital, he’d bring friends and their kids in every single day for lunchtimes and things,” Oldman recalled.
“He’d take kids around to tour the sets, and we’d meet them.”
Oldman said he found the gesture deeply moving, describing it as something that stemmed from Rickman’s own appreciation for the world he got to inhabit, “[I] thought that was the most extraordinary thing, that he was in this world that he got to be in, come in every day, and that he knew how much it meant to these kids. So, he wanted to share it.”
Rickman died in January 2016 of pancreatic cancer at age 69.
Following his death, Daniel Radcliffe, who starred as the titular Harry Potter, called him “one of the greatest actors I will ever work with” and “one of the loyalest and most supportive people I’ve ever met in the film industry.”
Rickman’s widow, Rima Horton, marked the tenth anniversary of his death earlier this year by continuing to support Pancreatic Cancer UK in his memory.
The character of Snape is set to be reintroduced for a new generation, with Paapa Essiedu taking on the role in HBO’s Harry Potter television series, premiering its first season on December 25.
