Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has revealed he was “terrified” of his late co-star Alan Rickman while filming the JK Rowling adaptation.
Rickman played Professor Severus Snape, the potions teacher at Hogwarts, who immediately dislikes Harry Potter in the film franchise.
However, his character is later revealed as a double agent, collaborating with Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix to take down Lord Voldemort.
Reflecting on their time working together, Radcliffe admitted he was “so intimated” by the acclaimed actor that he believed Rickman “hated” him.
Radcliffe told Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast: “I was so intimidated by Alan Rickman. How can you not be by that voice?
“Even hearing that voice, you forget quite how low it was until it echoes through you. I was so intimidated by him for the first three movies. I was terrified by him and was like, ‘This guy hates me’.”
The British actor made the comments after he was played a 2016 interview with Rickman in which he sang Radcliffe’s praises and said he felt “huge pride” over his role in Broadway musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Radcliffe said eventually Rickman saw that he “really wanted to work” at acting and was supportive of his post-Harry Potter career, attending every one of his stage productions, even shortening a holiday to attend his West End show Equus.
Radcliffe continued: “Somewhere along the lines he saw that I really wanted to do this and work at it.
“He cut short a vacation in Canada to come and see me in Equus. He saw every piece of stage work I did when he was alive.
“He would take me out afterwards and we would talk about it. He was one of the first people to say like, ‘You should look at voice coaching and investigate all this stuff.’
“I am so lucky. To hear him say that is really lovely. Thank you for showing me that.”
In the 2016 interview, Rickman said about the Harry Potter child stars: “As much as I was doing it for seven weeks, they were doing it for 52 weeks. This was their life from 12 to 22.
“And you would watch it from the sidelines at times and throw the odd lifeline in because there was so little time for that.
“It’s only in recent years that I’ve managed to sit down in a cafe with Daniel in New York. He was at a theatre and I was at another.
“Huge pride to go to see him in the musical [‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’]. How dare he be dancing as well as the New York dancers. He worked at it.”
