I think Rickman has more gravitas than Roth — though I like Roth a great deal. I think Rickman more as a heavy, than Roth, and when Roth does play heavies, while good, just isn’t as powerful, he seems more conniving, weasel-like, where Rickman is suave when he wants, frightening if her chooses, and in the end more believable and makes the end of his story that much more powerful
I can’t picture anyone else in the role of Severus Snape now. I loved Rickman’s interpretation of the role. He managed to bring a sense of sympathy to the character (which is critical to the successful portrayal of this role). I don’t think Roth could have done that as easily.
Prisoner of Azkaban is one of my favorites in the franchise too!!!! I also really liked Goblet of Fire.
I kind of feel like you covered it, Brentos. As soon as I heard of the casting of Rickman as Snape, I thought it was perfect. I am not very good at the whole, “Which actor/who would be right for…” game, as I just don’t see performance the same way other people do (which is a truly legitimate actual problem in my directing, so something I should probably learn about), but I just cannot imagine anyone else in that role.
And yes, Prisoner of Azkaban was one of the best, along with number 5 and number 7.1. A reverse Star Trek effect: odds were winners, evens kinda sucked.
—PolarisDiB
yes i agree, the odd # potter films were all much better than the even #s !!
@Uli i agree, Rickman is a much more dominating force on screen, however i feel that Roth may have brought much more anger and less melancholy to the role, which could have been great overall (minus perhaps the Deathly Hallows films in which Snape’s melancholy is essential).
@Rgrimes
I too find it hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Snape, Rickman did capture it. But what if we’d never seen him in that role and Roth instead? would we love Roth in the role as much as we now love Rickman?
@ Brentos:
//would we love Roth in the role as much as we now love Rickman?//
It’s possible we would because we would not have had anyone else to compare Roth’s portrayal too….the world of film is strewn with the what ifs…and all we can do is imagine it as best we can.
I think a lot of Snape’s character development was cut from the Potter films due to time constraints and because the books are so filled with intricate details that never made it to the screen.
My personal favorite Potter character was Sirius Black.
I’d rather both actors were doing something that was not Harry Potter.
Brentos
I recently read that Alan Rickman was the second choice to play Snape in the films, behind Tim Roth. Roth had a scheduling conflict and turned the role down back in the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone days, but i was curious what fans of the franchise think about this.
i have been re-reading the books now, reading them how i imagine Tim Roth would take the roll on and i’m curious as to whether the film benefited from his absence in the role, or if it was hurt overall.
Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Snape is arguably the favorite of loves of the franchise, so it’s hard to imagine anyone else in that role, however Tim Roth would bring some of the vehemence of Snape that i feel Rickman didn’t.
anyone elses thoughts?
(i put this in the Prisoner of Azkaban’s thread because it’s my favorite, even though it deals with the franchise as a whole)