Alan Rickman terrified an entire generation in ‘Harry Potter‘ as the stern and often ruthless Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. Behind the cameras, though, Rickman apparently had a completely different side.
Now, Gary Oldman has now shared a heartwarming detail about his late co-star, revealing how Rickman regularly brought children from schools and hospitals onto the Harry Potter sets because he understood just how special that experience could be for them.
Gary Oldman Reveals Alan Rickman’s Set Tradition
Oldman, who played Sirius Black in the Harry Potter franchise, opened up about Rickman while appearing at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday. While Snape hardly had a reputation for being Hogwarts’ most kid-friendly professor, Rickman apparently went out of his way to make young visitors feel welcome behind the scenes.
According to Oldman, Rickman would “bring in kids every single day” while they were filming. He recalled, “He would bring them in from a school, he’d bring them in from the hospital, he’d bring friends and their kids in every single day for lunchtimes and things. He’d take kids around to tour the sets, and we’d meet them.”
Rickman knew walking through the Harry Potter sets and meeting the cast could become a core memory for young fans. Oldman explained that Rickman saw it as “the most extraordinary thing, that he was in this world that he got to be in, come in every day, and that he knew how much it meant to these kids. So, he wanted to share it.”
Alan Rickman Was The Cheerleader Of The Harry Potter World
Oldman also described Rickman as “the cheerleader of it,” showing just how invested the actor was in everything surrounding the franchise. Despite playing one of its most intimidating characters, Rickman clearly had a lot of love for the magical world they had created together.
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“He was into it, he was doing it, so he was with it and committed to it,” Oldman said. His recollection paints a very different picture from the cold Professor Snape fans watched stalking through Hogwarts corridors. Rickman didn’t simply arrive, play his character, and leave. He actively shared the experience with children who might otherwise never have had the opportunity to see the sets up close.
Rickman died on January 14, 2016, following a battle with cancer. His career stretched far beyond Hogwarts, with memorable roles in films including ‘Die Hard‘ and ‘Truly Madly Deeply‘. Still, his portrayal of Severus Snape across all eight Harry Potter movies remains one of his most beloved performances, and Oldman’s story offers fans another reason to remember the man behind the character.
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