Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries

Product Information

Rickman began writing the diaries by hand in the early 1990s, with the intention that they would one day be published [. Including a foreword by Emma Thompson and a selection of diary entries from the beginning of Alan's career in 1974 - 1982. I also enjoyed the entries for Galaxy Quest and A Little Chaos which he directed (script first mentioned in 2001 but not screened until 2014). It's like he's invited readers backstage access into his life (gatecrash more like, as I don't think we're invited). Sean Mathias, who directed him and Helen Mirren in Anthony and Cleopatra, is “a big pile of Kleenex”; the playwright David Hare is “more self-involved than any actor I have ever met”.

One small piece of information from Jo Rowling seven years ago – Snape loved Lily – gave me a cliff edge to hang on to,” he wrote after finishing reading the final Harry Potter book.There is much that doesn’t really matter, or is not entirely clear (which, again, emphasises the need for a clearer editorial process), but the entries are generally brief, and it is fascinating to get a glimpse inside this man’s head. We are left with inklings of a tell-all: some tidbits about the author, many about a business where an insufficiency of the inner life is a job qualification. One line mostly for each date, usually mentioning people I'd never heard of, or often by just their nickname. Running from 1993 to his death in 2016, the diaries provide singular insight into Rickman's public and private life.

Following the second film in 2002, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rickman tried to quit again. Yes there are footnotes to explain who everyone is but it’s just not enough doesn’t give any more background information. Maureen Paton explores the actor's closely guarded private life and goes beyond the public persona to find the real Rickman, the working class boy.

Indeed, Rickman says he finds the obligations of friendship a ‘chore’ and is ‘exhausted’ by listening to people’s problems. Having established himself as a major classical stage actor Rickman transferred to the Hollywood screen with a glint in his eye and a sly smile.

There were some parts that were enjoyable, such as his thoughts on Tim Allen while working on Galaxy Quest. I was waiting as the date of the death of Natasha Richardson approached, wondering how Rickman would handle the news of her death.

I first saw him in Truly, Madly, Deeply, which I found so odd and loved so much I dragged friends to see it for a total of three times! Through his never-before-seen diaries – a twenty-five-year passion project – Rickman invites readers backstage and into his life. Was looking forward to this but, even if the content had been riveting instead of boring, I couldn’t stand the terrible, truly awful narration - the male narrator sounds as if he’s doing cheesy advert voiceovers - hammy, weird inflection in all the wrong places - how anyone could think he was a suitable narrator of an audiobook is baffling. Kiefer Sutherland says hello’; ‘Dan Day-Lewis jogs by, sweating’; ‘Terry Gilliam arrives with Johnny Depp’; ‘the first people I see are Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise’; ‘all of a sudden, there was Julia Roberts’.

Then the day was like a 12 hour scrum ending with Sigourney’s transparent manoeuvrings to get in the shot or create her own shot or whatever. Too often, all we present is an attempted repeat of a hazy memory of the once we thought we almost made it. What was interesting was the information about the film, "Mesmer", which I hadn't realised had ever been completed.Whenever he takes possession of another home, fire alarms go off, pipes burst under the utility-room floor, and the electricity is shut off. Rickman's diaries reveal the frenetic lifestyle and frequent fretting of an actor at the height of his fame . A certain sighing impatience dogs him and he doesn’t mince his words, at least in private: “15 May, 2004. If Alan Rickman ever met or mingled with ordinary folk, he never recorded this in his diaries, which are an epic of name-dropping. Alan Rickman remains one of the most beloved actors of all time across almost every genre, from his breakout role as Die Hard’s villainous Hans Gruber to his heart-wrenching run as Professor Severus Snape, and beyond.