Alan Rickman Was Critical of Dumbledore’s ‘Half-Blood Prince’ Death Scene: ‘It Seems Oddly Lacking in Drama’

Zack Sharf
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Alan Rickman’s never-before-seen diaries make up the new book “Madly, Deeply: The Diary of Alan Rickman,” which has been making headlines for weeks due to the legendary actor’s frank thoughts on the “Harry Potter” franchise. A new excerpt from Insider reveals that Rickman was critical of Dumbledore’s death scene as depicted in 2009’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” The scene finds Rickman’s Snape stepping in to kill Dumbledore after Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) fails to do the deed. Snape had previously vowed to Draco’s mother that he would watch over her son.

“The scene seems oddly lacking in drama — on the page — but that is absolute cause and effect of screenplays that have to conflate (deflate) the narrative,” Rickman wrote. “We don’t know — or remember — enough about individual characters’ concerns to understand their issues. Or care.”

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Rickman seemed to be alluding to the movie having too many characters, thus making it impossible for viewers to be fully invested in all of them. While Dumbledore’s death impacts Harry Potter, the scene mainly boils down to the tensions between Snape and Draco. For a similar reason, Rickman took issue with a line of dialogue.

“To wit, I argue (successfully, today) that a line of Snape’s, ‘I gave my word. I made a vow,’ was confusing and diluting,” Rickman said.

An original cut of the scene seemingly had Snape reminding the audience about his vow to Draco’s mother, thus explaining his decision to step in and kill Dumbledore himself. Rickman found it reductive and got the dialogue removed from the film. The only words spoken by Snape in the moment are “Avada Kedavra,” which is the killing curse that ends Dumbledore’s life.

Dumbledore’s death marked the climax of Snape and Draco’s relationship. Draco actor Tom Felton revealed earlier this month that Rickman had a stern reaction whenever Felton accidentally messed with Snape’s cloak on set during filming.

“Eventually, I was told in no uncertain terms by Alan Rickman: ‘Don’t step on my fucking cloak,’” Felton said. “[I] sort of giggled. Death eaters and I looked at each other and thought, ‘Is he joking?’ It quickly became apparent: he’s totally not joking.”

“Madly, Deeply: The Diary of Alan Rickman” will be released on Oct. 18.

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