Alan Rickman is known for many roles but his most renowned was that of the Harry Potter franchise’s Severus Snape. He absolutely captivated the audience with his performance and fans to date honor his legacy as the character and as the legendary person that he was. Severus Snape would forever be tied to him as he was to the character. However, that is not the only iconic role that the actor has played.
Hans Gruber of Die Hard is one of his memorable roles, bringing to life a villain that stood as a parallel to Bruce Willis’ John McClane. Although, he did not necessarily agree with all of the stunts involved. So much so that he was tricked into doing one of his most frightening stunts ever.
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Alan Rickman Didn’t Drop on Three
Alan Rickman‘s iconic fall from the Nakatomi Plaza towards the end of Die Hard came with shock and fear that was extremely genuine. As shared on Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, Charlie Picerni, the stunt coordinator of the film tweaked some things in the fall, completely catching the actor off guard. While Rickman was supposed to latch onto the rope, he was supposed to drop from it too.
“But I told the stunt guys, let him go on one.”
According to the information given to the actor, the rope would be released on the count of three with him falling forty feet down Nakatomi Plaza onto a crash pad. He kept anticipating the same, but Picerni had other plans. Instead of three, he informed the other stunt guys to release the actor on one. So he was let go rather abruptly and without proper warning. The fearful and terrified expression on the actor’s face came directly out of the reality of his situation, making the entire scene seem much more genuine as well.
Alan Rickman Took Everyone by Surprise
Alan Rickman, via The Hollywood Reporter, exclaimed that although the count itself was something he did not register, there was one thing he remembered about the stunt. While stunts like these are majorly done by experts and stunt doubles, Rickman did not want that.
“I look at the sight of some slightly incredulous producers when I said I would do it myself,” Rickman added. “They were very careful to make it my very last shot on the film.”
He went to the producers stating that he would rather go and do the stunt himself, wanting to give his all for the film. They were extremely shocked, to say the least, and even went so far as to make it his last shot scene in the film altogether.
