My parents certainly didn’t have anything to do with the theater. I’m some kind of accident. — Alan Rickman

I love working in New York theater. — Alan Rickman

In theater, you’ve got to be aware of your whole body because it involves stamina. It involves two–and–a–half hours and a sustained release of energy, maybe for six months. — Alan Rickman

You know, London is so sprawling, and you can sometimes forget that anybody else is on a stage anywhere else. — Alan Rickman

I’ve never been able to plan my life. I just lurch from indecision to indecision. — Alan Rickman

It was a punctuation mark in my life every year, because i would be doing other things but always come back to that, and i was always aware of my place in the story even as others around me were not. — Alan Rickman

If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust. — Alan Rickman

I’m still living the life where you get home and open the fridge and there’s half a pot of yogurt and a half a can of flat Coca–Cola. — Alan Rickman

Originally, theater was my life. It was what I assumed I’d spend my working life doing–if I was lucky. Then along came movies. — Alan Rickman

I like it when stories are left open. — Alan Rickman

We’re dead as a species if we don’t tell stories, because then we don’t know who we are. — Alan Rickman

England in the ’60s and the ’70s was everything that history has said; it was phenomenally exciting, musically. — Alan Rickman

I am the character you are not supposed to like. — Alan Rickman

If you judge the character, you cant play it. — Alan Rickman

I suppose with any good writing and interesting characters, you can have that awfully overused word […]–a jouuuuuurney. — Alan Rickman

So you can’t judge the character you’re playing ever. — Alan Rickman

Each character I play has different dimensions. I’m not interested in words that pull them together. — Alan Rickman

Any actor who judges his character is a fool–for every role you play you’ve got to absorb that character’s motives and justifications. — Alan Rickman

If you spend any time in Los Angeles, there’s only one topic of conversation. — Alan Rickman

A lot of the time I hate the theater. You think, ‘I have to climb Mount Everest, again, tonight.’ Oh, the theater is a scary place to be. — Alan Rickman

I have just returned from the dubbing studio where I spoke into a microphone as Severus Snape for absolutely the last time. — Alan Rickman

I’m very aware that when one is acting in the theater, you do become kind of animal about it. And you’re reliant on instincts rather than tact a lot of the time. — Alan Rickman

When I’m 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I’ll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, ‘After all this time?’ And I will say, ‘Always. — Alan Rickman

Mellow doesn’t describe me. I’m hungry every day. — Alan Rickman

I’m always aware of the camera and it feels like that’s the audience. — Alan Rickman

When I get off the plane in England I always feel about two inches shorter. — Alan Rickman

The audience should feel like voyeurs. Their response is absolutely crucial. — Alan Rickman

I do feel more myself in America. I can regress there, and they have roller–coaster parks. — Alan Rickman

I always feel that when I come to Edinburgh, in many ways I am coming home. — Alan Rickman

Being on the stage in New York is always exciting because you feel like you’re part of the life of the city. — Alan Rickman

One longs for a director with a sense of imagination. — Alan Rickman

On film you put all your energies into a single glance. — Alan Rickman

It’s a nightmare to sit and watch a film that I’m in. There’s a horrible inescapability to it. — Alan Rickman

Every single black character in that film is positive and highly intelligent, so, 28 years ago, that’s quite revolutionary, and quietly so. — Alan Rickman

Market forces impose certain rules before a film can actually get made. — Alan Rickman

A film, a piece of theatre, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world. — Alan Rickman

Actors are agents of change. A film, a piece of theater, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world. — Alan Rickman

What is it about actors? God knows I get bored with actors talking about themselves. — Alan Rickman

Actors are actually very supportive of each other. — Alan Rickman

The difference between being an actor and a director is simple. The director has to hide his panic; the actor doesn’t. — Alan Rickman

All I want to see from an actor is the intensity and accuracy of their listening. — Alan Rickman

I don’t think it’s right that everybody knows everything about me. — Alan Rickman

Parts win prizes, not actors. — Alan Rickman

I think every English actor is nervous of a Newcastle accent. — Alan Rickman