Alan Rickman terrified Daniel Radcliffe in the early days of Harry Potter

Alan Rickman might seem intimidating, but by all accounts he was one of the most gracious and inspiring actors in the business. But try telling that to a teenager about to star in his first movie. Yes, Daniel Radcliffe was scared to death of Severus Snapes himself, Alan Rickman, while filming Harry Potter.

As Radcliffe admitted on the Happy Sad Confused podcast (on Variety), “Alan Rickman [during filming] "Harry Potter" scared me so much. How can you not believe this voice? Even when you hear it, you forget how quiet it was until it echoes through you. I was so scared of him throughout the first three films. I was terrified of him and thought, “This guy hates me.” However, Radcliffe continued to carry out his task, showing only dedication to the role of Harry Potter, and “at some point he saw that I really wanted to do it and work at it.”

Rickman subsequently became Radcliffe's main supporter only on screen, but also on stage. “He interrupted his vacation in Canada to come see me at Equus.” I saw every stage work I did when I was alive. Then he invited me somewhere, and we talked about it. He was one of the first people to say, “You should do voice training and learn all these things.” I'm so lucky."

It's amazing that Alan Rickman didn't just talk or write about his thoughts on the casting and production of Harry Potter (as he did in diaries published years after his death in 2016 year), but was also interesting in dealing with the young cast who were trying to understand how the business works.