The Harry Potter Scene Alan Rickman Considered His Finest Moment, Revealed by Tom Felton

It’s been ten years since Alan Rickman left us—yeah, hard to believe, I know. Even a decade later, his presence still feels huge, especially if you’re a fan of movies that don’t just phone it in. Everyone remembers him as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, but honestly, Rickman’s range was wild—he went from stealing scenes as Die Hard’s Hans Gruber to making you cry (and, let’s be real, question your life choices) in films like Truly Madly Deeply. The man didn’t do half-measures.

The Rickman Touch: More Than Just Snape

Most people, thanks to eight blockbuster Potter movies, know Rickman for that deliciously ambiguous glare and the way he managed to leave you guessing whose side he was on (right up until the bitter end). But what a lot of fans didn’t see was the personality behind the stern look and velvety voice. Enter Tom Felton—aka Draco Malfoy—who’s been sharing some pretty great behind-the-scenes stories about working with Rickman. And honestly, they’re as entertaining as anything in the movies.

'I’ve Peaked': Late Nights and Drier-Than-Dry Humor

Felton recently told The Guardian about filming one of the more chaotic Harry Potter scenes—the one where Hagrid’s hut goes up in flames in Half-Blood Prince. It was past 4am, everyone was standing around half-frozen with Helena Bonham Carter and Robbie Coltrane duking it out in the background, and Rickman was just... silent. Totally still, Snape as always.

So Felton gets up the nerve to ask how he’s doing. After about ten painfully long seconds, Rickman slowly replies:

'I’ve peaked.'

Then goes right back to what he was doing—just the hint of a smile, eyes sparkling. That, Felton says, was “peak” Rickman. Bone-dry wit, and a sense of timing most comedians would kill for.

Scaring Kids—For the Sweetest Reason Possible

Here’s something you might not expect: Rickman, even though he could look like he’d tell you off for breathing too loud, was huge on quietly doing kind things. Felton admits he (like most kid actors on those sets) was kind of terrified of him at first. But as he tells it, Rickman went out of his way to help out—especially when it came to visiting children on set.

• Rickman would regularly invite terminally ill kids and their families to the Harry Potter set. He’d pretend they were his “cousins” or “friends”—just to get them in and make it a big event.
• Once the kids arrived? Rickman would stay totally in character as Snape. Imagine a nine-year-old clutching a wand, and instead of a gentle handshake, they get a sneer, maybe a fake scolding, even a little tap on the head. Did it freak them out? Not at all—they loved it.
• Felton learned a key lesson from watching: kids don’t show up to meet the actor, they want the character. So Rickman gave them exactly what they were hoping for—right down to refusing to smile, even if (Felton thinks) he probably was on the inside.

It’s kind of genius. Rather than break the spell, Rickman doubled down on the experience. And it clearly stuck with Felton, who calls Rickman the “kindest soul” he’s ever worked with, not to mention someone who taught him a whole lot about giving back.

Quick Potter Franchise Facts

Just because people love a good stats fix:

Franchise: Harry Potter
Author: J.K. Rowling
Books: 7
Movies: 8 (not counting the Fantastic Beasts spinoffs)
Main Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Total Box Office (including all 11 films): $9.5 billion (yikes)

Streaming and Legacy

All the Harry Potter films are still streaming on HBO Max, for those needing a Snape fix—or maybe just some more Alan Rickman dry humor, which honestly never gets old.

If you ever got to meet Rickman, would you want the soft-spoken actor or full Snape mode? Judging by those kids, I think I’d risk the sneer.