“He would do 11-minute takes”. Alan Rickman was almost driven “insane” by one of the best scenes involving him
Alan Rickman ran out of patience while filming a scene with Rowan Atkinson. The actor was almost driven “insane.”.
Alan Rickman was known for his perfectionism. The actor tried to approach his work with precision and strived to make his performances come off as well as possible. However, it is sometimes the case that when two perfectionists meet, things start to get complicated.
And this is exactly what happened during the filming of Love Actually during a joint scene between Rickman and Rowan Atkinson. But here the perfectionism of the actor known for his role as Mr. Bean won out, whose improvised gift-wrapping scene took an unusually long time. This was mentioned by the film's director, Richard Curtis, during an interview to mark the 20th anniversary of Love Actually.
The filmmaker mentioned that Atkinson “was just taking his time.” This, however, almost drove Rickman, who was running out of patience, “insane.”
Rowan was just taking his time. So he would do 11-minute takes. [Rowan would say], “Let’s go back and do that. Let’s start again.” And poor Alan was there all the time going, “Grr, ugh.”
Although the situation was nerve-wracking, Curtis revealed that it helped Rickman play the scene because he was able to use his anger and frustration by giving vent to it in his own performance, as he wasn't the only one who was running out of patience – the character he played also couldn't wait for the end of the gift-wrapping performed with care, the process of which resembled the work of a virtuoso.
In turn, the scene went down as one of the best involving Rickman. The audience had a great time with a poised and accurate Atkinson and a cranky Rickman, who regretted that he had asked to wrap a gift.
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