“God rest him, he was so happy to be playing someone heroic and nice,” Thompson said of the late actor’s role in “Sense and Sensibility.”

Emma Thompson says Alan Rickman ‘was so fed up’ with people wanting him to play a villain in movies

"God rest him, he was so happy to be playing someone heroic and nice," Thompson said of the late actor's role in "Sense and Sensibility."

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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January 9, 2026 5:35 p.m. ET

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Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson in 'Sense and Sensibility'. Credit:

Columbia/courtesy Everett

Emma Thompson says that *Sense and Sensibility *delivered the acting opportunity that Alan Rickman had been waiting for.

Thompson, 66, and the late Rickman starred together in the 1995 big screen adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, and she revealed in a new interview with *GQ* that he was relieved to finally play something other than a villain.

"Alan Rickman, God rest him, he was so happy to be playing someone heroic and nice," Thompson said. "Because he was so fed up with people wanting him to be the Sheriff of Nottingham."

Rickman received critical acclaim for his role as the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham in 1991's *Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves*, including a BAFTA nomination. He had made his film debut three years prior as Hans Gruber, the villain in *Die Hard*.

Alan Rickman in 'Die Hard'. Everett Collection

But his role in *Sense and Sensibility* finally provided him the chance to play one of the good guys. Rickman played Colonel Brandon, the quiet, honorable, older man who falls in love with one of the Dashwood daughters, Marianne (Kate Winslet), competing for her heart against the secretly scandalous John Willoughby (Greg Wise).

Thompson played Elinor, the eldest Dashwood daughter struggling to lead her family after their father's death. Thompson and Wise met on the film and married in 2003.

Alan Rickman's journal recounts decision to stay in 'Harry Potter' films despite desire to quit

Alan Rickman's Best Roles

Thompson and Rickman, who died in 2016 at 69 after battling cancer, went on to star together in *Love Actually* (along with another *Sense and Sensibility *costar, Hugh Grant), as well as the *Harry Potter* films, in which he played Severus Snape and she played Professor Trelawney.

Excerpts from Rickman's journal released posthumously as a book, *Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman*, revealed his desire to exit *Harry Potter* as the anguished Severus Snape in 2002, one month after the release of *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.*

"Talking to [agent] Paul Lyon-Maris about HP exit, which he thinks will happen," Rickman wrote in an entry dated Dec. 4, 2002. "But here we are in the project-collision area again. Reiterating no more HP. They don't want to hear it."

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The decision to remain in the franchise came in 2006, not too long after Rickman was released from the hospital, where he received treatment for prostate cancer. Rickman's doctors determined that the best option would be to remove his prostate, an operation that occurred at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. In an entry dated Jan. 30, 2006 following the surgery, Rickman wrote, "Finally, yes to HP 5. The sensation is neither up nor down. The argument that wins is the one that says: 'See it through. It's your story.'"

The actor also recorded his thoughts about Snape's death, noting that he had always known about his character's unrequited love for Harry's mother, Lily Potter. "I have finished reading the last Harry Potter book," he wrote in a July 2007 entry. "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."**

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