Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Never give up, never surrender!

At 42, Alan Rickman finally landed his dream job.





In his younger years, Rickman had an interest in the arts. In high school, he developed an attraction to drama. However, drama was "not seen as a sensible thing to do at 18."  So in order to make his mom proud, he took up the much more stable career of graphic design.

Rickman and a few friends opened their own graphic design studio. Surprisingly, they were pretty successful. After going to college, gaining a stable career, and making good money, Rickman decided that this was the perfect time to try something new. He requested an audition from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. At 26, he was accepted into RADA and finally began his acting career.


The new Nike spokes model (Just kidding :)

Getting accepted was just the beginning of his journey.  To support himself, he would work as a dresser for actors, meaning that he would actually help actors put their clothes on. Though a pretty boring job, he did get to meet Nigel Hawthorne and Sir Ralph Richardson, and probably gained immense experience in choosing which belt goes with what tie.



                            (Nigel Hawthorne)       (Sir Ralph Richardson)

For TWENTY-some years, Rickman roamed around in the theater scene. He was acknowledged by few and gained little recognition. It wasn't until his role in Les Liasions that he began to be noticed by American audiences. He was nominated a Tony for his performance. However, when a movie version was picked up, he was kicked out and denied the role. Mr. Malkovich was hired instead.




Don't worry, at this time, Rickman finally reached the plump age of 42 and landed a little movie called Die Hard, which open the door to many more opportunities.
The rest is history.

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