The beloved actor, Alan Rickman, passed away, after losing to his long battle with cancer. The BBC reported that the actor and director has died from cancer at the age of 69. Many of the actors he worked with couldn’t find any words, except that they were shocked to hear the news.

According to The Guardian, Daniel Radcliffe, actor of Harry Potter in the Harry Potter films, wrote that Alan Rickman was “one of the greatest actors I will ever work with” adding that he was also “one of the loyalest and most supportive people I’ve ever met in the film industry” in a rather long post to a social media site.

Nathan Erickson said, “He was amazing portraying the character and I’m so thankful he played Snape in all of the movies.” Emily Doran wrote in a post, “Rest in peace Half Blood Prince. The world is so dark without you.” 

Alan Rickman is most known for his roles as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films and Hans Gruber in Die Hard. Most people know him for just the two roles, but it wasn’t those films that won him awards and nominations.

Alan Rickman began his acting career in 1978 with the Royal Shakespeare Company and had his breakthrough role in Romeo & Juliet as Tybalt. The last film he ever made was with Disney in Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass where he continued his role as the voice of the Blue Caterpillar, also known as Absolem.

When he was still acting in the Harry Potter films, Rickman said, “When I’m 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I’ll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, ‘After all this time?’ And I will say, ‘Always.’”

It hurts not only my heart, but many fans of his films, to hear of his passing. And for the Harry Potter fans, we all cry because he will never get to sit in his rocking chair at 80 years old and read the Harry Potter books.

To many adults, the award winning actor will forever be known as Hans Gruber in Die Hard; however, for many kids and teens, he will always be Professor Severus Snape, the good guy we always thought was bad.

“I want to swim in both directions at once. Desire success, court failure.”  ~Alan Rickman