Harry Potter actor Alan Rickman slammed Emma Watson’s acting skills in the early films, according to extracts from his diary.
The late actor, who died aged 69 in 2016, was famous for movies such as Die Hard, Love Actually and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
But for many, he was best known for playing Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011.
Since Rickman’s tragic passing, extracts from his private journal have been made public and they offer an insight into his time filming the hugely popular franchise.
In the extracts, which have been published by The Guardian, the Sense and Sensibility actor revealed that he was unhappy working on the Harry Potter movies due to the constant work and time that went into it.
Rickman, who appeared alongside stars such as Maggie Smith and Ralph Fiennes, also shared some rather brutal thoughts about his much younger co-stars’ acting abilities during the franchise’s early years.
“These kids need directing. They don’t know their lines and Emma [Watson]’s diction is this side of Albania at times,” he said (per The Guardian).
Alan Rickman slammed Emma Watson’s acting skills in the early Harry Potter films. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures“Plus my so-called rehearsal is with a stand-in who is French.”
This all happened around the time of filming the third movie in the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in 2004.
Elsewhere in his private journal, Rickman also wrote about his plans to leave the franchise altogether – suggesting it had been an ongoing discussion with production.
He wrote: “Talking to [agent] Paul Lyon-Maris about HP exit, which he thinks will happen. But here we are in the project-collision area again. Reiterating no more HP. They don’t want to hear it.”
But, despite his problems with production, Rickman decided to see the Harry Potter franchise through to the end.
The reason for him to stay was due to his character’s arc, which revealed that Snape was in love with Lily Potter, the titular character’s mother.
In an entry shared from 2007, he said: “I have finished reading the last ‘Harry Potter’ book.
“Snape dies heroically, Potter describes him to his children as one of the bravest men he ever knew and calls his son Albus Severus. This was a genuine rite of passage.
“One small piece of information from Jo Rowling seven years ago – Snape loved Lily – gave me a cliff edge to hang on to.”
Rickman’s diary entries are now available in the book ‘Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman’.
