Over the past few days a few past Potter stars have commented on the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film, which will be produced by Potter producer David Heyman. Mugglenet chatted to Ralph Fiennes who played Voldemort in the films who said he would be open to reading the script (to possibly direct.) This has no bearing on actual film news, it’s just interesting to see that he would consider it.
Daniel Radcliffe and Alan Rickman also talked about the film with MTV:
“I don’t think I’m going to be coming back…. We can’t be doing these characters when we’re 40, so there has to be a line drawn,” Radcliffe said. He wouldn’t, however, say “no” definitively “because I never know what Jo [Rowling] is going to write, but at the moment I’m in the same position that everyone else is in — waiting to hear what information is coming out because I don’t know anything about these new films.”
“I don’t really know what she’s doing,” Rickman said. While he answered the question as diplomatically as Radcliffe, unwilling to rule out an appearance, he had the same reservations. “I suppose I’m wise enough to never say ‘never,’ but I’m dead so I don’t know where I’m going to be scrapped back from. I’m so dead.”
In a new interview with I Am Rogue, Alan Rickman discusses his newest film, CBGB, which also stars Rupert Grint. Alan plays club owner Hilly Kristal and Rupert plays Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys. CBGB opens in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on October 11th. The full interview can be read here with some snippets below.
The Dead Boys’ Cheetah Chrome is played by your Harry Potter series co-star Rupert Grint, who you’ve known since he was just a boy. Was it nice to reunite with him for this film and see how he has grown as an actor since the Potter films?
Rickman: Well you know it is a validation of the fact that people shouldn’t be trapped by one thing and God bless him there he was looking quite different. It’s great that the acting profession reinvents itself for people in that way and he moves on.
Were you familiar with CBGB and the punk scene of the ‘1970s, and what kind of research did you do into the life of club owner Hilly Kristal in order to play him in the film?
Rickman: I was completely not familiar. I had never been to CBGB. In the ‘70s I was a student in London and punk rock was just a lot of noise to me, apart from people like David Bowie who was cool and arty. Then I knew Blondie, and Patti Smith, but I really wasn’t buying albums by The Romones or The Dead Boys or anything. I couldn’t afford them anyways. Research was made easier because there is so much material available on DVD now. So I watched Hilly, and I listened to him. It helped because there was so much irony in the fact that he started a club to be filled with country music and it never was, and that’s because he was quite brave about recognizing a moment in time. Also, given how much noise was involved in the music and in the club, he was essentially a very quiet man. He was rumored to have a terrible temper at times but mostly he had a still, calm center in the middle of it all.
What do you think it was that Hilly Kristal saw in these bands?
Rickman: I think it is pretty much an accurate quote from the film when Hilly says, “These kids have something to say and we should listen.” So it wasn’t just the music it was the lyrics too and the fact that he only let them play original music and no covers or anything. So it was a moment in time for him and a moment in time for young people, and a particular kind of rebellion was going on.
The Hollywood Reporter has released the first trailer for CBGB starring Rupert Grint as Cheetah Chrome and Alan Rickman as Hilly Kristal. The film gives fans a look at the New York City punk-rock scene and the venerable nightclub, CBGB. Alan Rickman’s character, Hilly, opens up the club in the early 1970s while Rupert’s character was in a band, The Dead Boys, that played there. The film is set to be released on October 11th.
Oprah Winfrey has released the first photo of Alan Rickman in costume for his role as President Ronald Reagan in The Butler. The film is a true story centered around the life of Eugene Allen, who was a butler at the White House from 1952 to 1986. He served as a butler to eight American presidents and the film takes us through those years.
Forest Whitaker plays Eugene and Oprah plays his wife. Jane Fonda will be playing Nancy Reagan. Other well known stars in the film include Robin Williams as Eisenhower, John Cusack as Richard Nixon and James Marsden as John F. Kennedy.
Harry Potter stars Alan Rickman and Rupert Grint are set to star in the upcoming film CBGB. Alan Rickman stars as CBGB owner Hilly Kristal while Rupert will play Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys, who played a prominent role during the club’s rise. The film is about the New York City club’s impact on the underground music scene, highlighting artists like the Talking Heads, the Ramones and Blondie.
In an interview with The New York Post, Severus Snape actor Alan Rickman talked about the Harry Potter series, playing the role of Snape, theatre and more. The parts where he discussed Harry Potter may be read below:
Did [Harry Potter author] J.K. Rowling know ahead of time what would happen with your character, Snape?
Yeah, she knew everything. It’s fair to say that she put the ending into a safe. She knew how it would finish.
Did she tip you off?
Before I said I would do [the first film] I said I had to talk to her. We spoke the next day, and she gave me a very small piece of information … that let me know there was more to him than met the eye.
Can you share that with us?
No. I promised her I never would.
Having played the character all those years, did you have emotional or cathartic moments toward the end?
With the last film, it was very cathartic, because you were finally able to see who he was. It was strange, in a way, to play stuff that was so emotional … but satisfying on all sorts of levels. You know, Ray [Fiennes, who played Voldemort] and I had a scene where you just thought, well, finally it’s just a couple of actors talking to each other, with no special effects.
On holding a wand.
Holding a wand is not the most threatening thing. And pointing it at Dame Maggie Smith, who you’ve grown up worshipping from the cheap seats at the National Theatre, and she’s pointing it at you … and she can arch an eyebrow like nobody. Thank god for the sheets of flame.
Did he ever consider not acting in all eight of the movies?
No, I wasn’t going to let anyone else finish him.
Today is also Snape’s birthday, so Happy Birthday to our favorite Potions Master!