Few movie villains have left behind the kind of legacy that Alan Rickman did as Hans Gruber in ‘Die Hard’. The dramatic fall from the top of Nakatomi Plaza remains one of the most unforgettable moments in action movie history.
Decades later, that particular image still holds up for looking remarkably convincing. And, there is a good reason for it. Surprisingly, Rickman wasn’t really acting in that scene as he was genuinely caught off-guard after the crew pulled a sneaky trick on him.
The Stunt Crew Of ‘Die Hard’ Already Had The Trick Planned
As it turns out, the expression on Hans Gruber’s face as he falls from Nakatomi Plaza wasn’t at all rehearsed. It was completely real. To pull off the scene, Rickman performed the iconic stunt himself.
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He had to hang from a wire before dropping around 40 feet onto a crash pad. According to stunt coordinator Charlie Picerni, who revealed the story on Netflix’s ‘The Movies That Made Us’, the crew had to take some risky steps to capture a more authentic reaction from the actor.
Picerni revealed that Rickman was told he would be released on the count of three for the fall. But he actually gave a totally different instruction to the stunt team. “But I told the stunt guys, let him go on one,” Picerni recalled.
That unexpected release elicited a genuine reaction from Rickman, exactly what Picerni was hoping to see. Ironically, Rickman later admitted that he didn’t particularly remember the countdown.
The Producers Didn’t Leave Alan Rickman Alone
Rickman’s decision to perform the fall himself reportedly left some of the film’s producers more nervous than the actor himself. Reflecting on the experience years later, he joked in an interview: “I look at the sight of some slightly incredulous producers when I said I would do it myself.”
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With no CGI to rely on, there was little room for negotiation. Rickman recalled, “There wasn’t any CGI. So, it was ‘let’s drop the actor and hope that he doesn’t spin around in the middle of the fall and land on his head and kill himself.’”
Still, the producer made sure they wouldn’t lose their villain before the movie was finished. As Rickman laughingly revealed, “They were very careful to make it my very last shot on the film.”
As if that wasn’t enough, director John McTiernan somehow even persuaded Alan Rickman to perform the fall a second time as a backup take. Fortunately, the very first take, which featured his genuine reaction, turned out to be the ultimate take that finally made it into ‘Die Hard‘.
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