Alan Rickman’s Journals Reveal Why the ‘Harry Potter’ Actor Decided to Continue Playing Snape: ‘See It Through. It’s Your Story.’
BreAnna Bell Excerpts from Alan Rickman’s diaries published by The Guardian offer a glimpse into the late actor’s decade-long journey through the “Harry Potter” franchise, with insight into why he decided to continue playing the role of Severus Snape across all eight films. Prior to production beginning on the series’ fifth entry “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” Rickman was forced to confront health issues. The actor was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in 2005 and began to receive treatment. Doctors later decided to remove his entire prostate, with surgery occurring at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. in January of the following year.