Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman

by Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson (Contribution by), Rima Horton (Afterword)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Alan Rickman gifts us one last project — 25 years in the making. The beloved and dearly missed actor and activist offers readers a revealing look into his most personal musings on acting, politics and life in his thoughtful and beautifully written diaries.

An international bestseller

One of Barnes & Noble's Best Biographies & Memoirs of 2022

Selected by the Guardian as one of the best books of 2022

Amazon's choice for one of the best book gifts of 2023

Madly, Deeply is a rare invitation into the mind of Alan Rickman—one of the most magnetic, beloved performers of our time.

From his breakout role in Die Hard to his outstanding, multifaceted performances in the Harry Potter films, Galaxy Quest, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and more, Alan Rickman cemented his legacy as a world-class actor. His air of dignity, his sonorous voice, and the knowing wit he brought to each role continue to captivate audiences today.

But Rickman’s ability to breathe life into projects wasn't confined to just his performances. As you'll find, Rickman's diaries detail the extraordinary and the ordinary, flitting between worldly and witty and gossipy, while remaining utterly candid throughout. He takes us inside his home, on trips with friends across the globe, and on the sets of films and plays ranging from Sense and Sensibility, to Noël Coward's Private Lives, to the final film he directed, A Little Chaos.

Running from 1993 to his death in 2016, the diaries provide singular insight into Rickman's public and private life. Reading them is like listening to Rickman chatting to a close companion. Meet Rickman the consummate professional actor, but also the friend, the traveler, the fan, the director, the enthusiast; in short, the man beyond the icon.

Madly, Deeply features a photo insert, a foreword by Emma Thompson, and an afterword by Rima Horton.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250847973
Publisher:	Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	01/09/2024
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Alan Rickman was born in West London. Rickman studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design, the Royal College of Art, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He started in theater and later expanded to films with Die Hard. Rickman played a wide variety of characters in iconic films across many genres, including Truly, Madly, Deeply; Sense and Sensibility; Galaxy Quest; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Love Actually; and every movie in the Harry Potter series. He passed away in 2016.

Emma Thompson is an Academy Award®—and Golden Globe—winning actress who helped bring the Nurse Matilda stories by Christianna Brand to the big screen in the 2005 hit movie Nanny McPhee, in which she also starred. She lives in England and is the mother of two children.

Editorial Reviews

His design background didn’t go to waste either. The book’s endpapers reproduce his sweet illustrations and affable handwriting. . . . From his obituaries I got the feeling he was wonderful company. These diaries confirm it.”

—The Guardian

“It’s a joy to spend time in Rickman’s company.”

—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-10-18
The beloved actor invites us into his daily life.

This “distillation of more than a million words,” writes editor Taylor, “tells the story of what it meant to be one of the most fêted and admired actors in the decades immediately before and after the dawn of the third millennium.” In 1978, Rickman (1946-2016) wrote about his “ruthless determination to be an ACTOR, not anybody’s puppet.” Among other topics, the author addresses collapsed projects, “so many No’s,” friendships, deaths, dining, and politics, not to mention plenty of strong opinions about movies: “Jurassic Park—what the hell is the plot?”; Forrest Gump: “horrific”;Remains of the Day: “a gloriously crafted film with [Anthony] Hopkins quite wonderful.” Throughout, the entries are forthright, perceptive, and witty. He writes about the “jumbled and intense “Awfully Big Adventure and The Winter Guest, which he directed. In 1995, Rickman admits, “I am a bully. But it’s only a noise I make to get rid of the silence.” In 2001, “Harry Potter is offered, and he recounts his first conversation with Joanne Rowling: “There are things that only Snape & you know—I need to know.” Attending the premiere, he writes, “the film should only be seen on a big screen. It acquires a scale and depth that matches the hideous score by John Williams.” Arriving at the Radio City premiere of Harry Potter 3, a “very grown up movie,” he felt “like a Beatle.” After an interview in October 2005: “Still they want to talk about stuff from 20 years ago or HP, HP, HP.” Bottle Shock, he writes, has a “growing and undeniably great heart.” On July 3, 2015, he writes, “Appointment made w. haematologist.” On July 14, he received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer: “A different kind of diary now.” The final entry came on Dec. 12, 2015, and Rickman died a month later. The book contains a foreword by Emma Thompson and a moving afterword by Rickman’s wife, Rima Horton.

It’s a joy to spend time in Rickman’s company.

Kirkus Reviews