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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Louis Chilton

Eddie Izzard says Alan Rickman told her huge Harry Potter twist over dinner

Getty

Eddie Izzard has revealed that the late Alan Rickman spoilt one of Harry Potter’s biggest twists over a dinner.

Rickman played Severus Snape in the hit film adaptations of JK Rowling’s wizard-themed children’s books.

Comedian and activist Izzard reflected on her interactions with Rickman for a recent feature in The Guardian.

According to Izzard, she went out to dinner with Rickman in New York while she was there performing in a play.

“Alan had started playing Professor Snape from the Harry Potter films,” Izzard recalled. “He portrayed him with an intense and brittle spirit. I asked if Snape continued in future stories.

“‘Well’, he said, ‘the latest book has just come out, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’. Then he quietly added: “And I – I am the Half-Blood Prince!”

While Izzard claims that the meeting took place in 2003, Half-Blood Prince wasn’t in fact published until 2005.

Elsewhere, Izzard also praised Rickman’s character, sharing that he had recommended her for a role opposite Lindsay Duncan in a play by David Mamet.

“It was a wonderful thing for him to do and Lindsay was a fabulous actor to be working with,” she said.

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