Alan Rickman discusses directing movies, “Alice in Wonderland”,”Potter”, and “A Little Chaos”

In a new interview, Alan Rickman (Professor Severus Snape) has spoken about the challenges of directing movies, his latest roles, and what else he worked on while he was filming Harry Potter – as well as the upcoming Alice in Wonderland film.

On A Little Chaos, Alan’s latest film staring Kate Winslet, Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy), and Alan himself, Alan said that his desire to direct the film grew as time went on:

I think as time went on, yes. I spent a lot of time working with the writer, Alison Deegan, but I was directing in the theater during that period. I wasn’t free to direct a movie until I finished with Harry Potter responsibilities. I had spent a lot of time with her just kind of being a structural engineer with the script, and then as time went on it slipped into a kind of inevitability.

Alan also spoke about how he worked on a variety of projects while working on Harry Potter:

I did do lots of different things the whole time. For example, while I was shooting Harry Potter I was also appearing in “Private Lives” in London on the West End and on Broadway, and I was making things like ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Snow Cake’ and other movies. I was directing in the theater as well [-] Strindberg and a modern play about Israel and Palestine.

In a way, they choose you, projects. I don’t know that I was looking to do something set in the French 17th century, but it happened.

And what about being recognized as Professor Snape?

It depends where you are. Certainly not much in England because everybody walks down the street staring at the pavement. That’s a relief (laughs). Honestly, I never expect it because that long black wig is a huge disguise. It doesn’t happen as often as you might think it would. It’s such a kind of strong outline — black wig, black eyes, white face — that seeing me running for a cab or something is not the image that people associate with the character (laughs).

He added that

Ralph Fiennes and I were always comforted by the fact that we had big disguises in the films, and we were able to have private lives. I go to the supermarket, and I don’t have any trouble.

Finally, Alan spoke about what he’s been working on recently:

Well, I’ve done my contribution to the latest Alice in Wonderland film. And now for something completely different, I am the caterpillar again (laughs). I’ve got a film called ‘Eye in the Sky’, which is a film about the moral responsibilities governments face regarding the use of drones.

A Little Chaos was released in the US this week, June 26, on limited release. Check your local theater listings for more information. You can read more about the film here.

Are you planning on seeing the film? Are you looking forward to Alan’s role in the upcoming Alice in Wonderland film? Let us know in the comments!