Emma Thompson has paid tribute to Alan Rickman, calling him a 'rare' and 'unique' human being.
Emma Thompson
It was announced yesterday afternoon that the popular actor has passed away from cancer at the age of sixty-nine.
Thompson and Rickman worked together on a string of different occasions and became good friends over the years. The actress revealed that she had seen him just hours before he had passed away.
In a statement, Thompson said: "Alan was my friend and so this is hard to write because I have just kissed him goodbye. What I remember most in this moment of painful leave-taking is his humour, intelligence, wisdom and kindness. His capacity to fell you with a look or lift you with a word.
"The intransigence which made him the great artist he was - his ineffable and cynical wit, the clarity with which he saw most things, including me, and the fact that he never spared me the view. I learned a lot from him.
"He was the finest of actors and directors. I couldn't wait to see what he was going to do with his face next. I consider myself hugely privileged to have worked with him so many times and to have been directed by him."
"He was the ultimate ally. In life, art and politics. I trusted him absolutely. He was, above all things, a rare and unique human being and we shall not see his like again."
The pair first worked together on period drama Sense and Sensibility, which was based on the book by Jane Austin and was directed by Ang Lee. They famously reuniting as husband and wife in the romantic comedy Love Actually in 2003; the moment where Thompson confronts her husband about his affair is possibly their most famous scene together.
The pair also shared the screen in Judas Kiss in 1998 and Thompson led the cast in Rickman's The Winter Guest in 1997.
Rickman returned to the director's chair last year with A Little Chaos, which saw him reunite with Sense and Sensibility co-star Kate Winslet. He has also lent his voice to Alice Through the Looking Glass, where he will bring the Blue Caterpillar to life. He will also star in drone film Eye in the Sky later this year.
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