I think he means that he doesn't play the villain as a villain. Bad guys don't think of themselves as bad guys. Rickman's saying that he doesn't think, "How would an evil person act?" but tries to see things from the character's point of view: a guy who wants certain things and is willing to use certain methods to get them. It's his approach to the character, not a commentary on the character's moral standing.
Being or playing the villain doesn’t necessitate a “commentary on the character’s moral standing”, kid. You’re fabricating mutual exclusivity to lend credence to Rickman’s statements. Rickman’s character is the villain of Die Hard, and Rickman played that villain. Moreover, Gruber absolutely knew he was evil, taking pride in his thievery, murders, etc. Why do people try to sound edgy by taking a perfectly obvious thing and denying it?
@@crypastesomemore8348 Classic midwit word salad. You must love /pol. The point you have missed so spectacularly is that Gruber would not think if himself as a villain.
Hans Gruber is always on the list of the best movie villains of all time - usually in the top two or three. That was Alan Rickman's first movie role. He was a noted stage actor. He stole the show for sure. One of my favourite actors.
At the very least, Hans Gruber is one of the most charismatic bad guys Hollywood has ever come up with. Even though he is the bad guy in the movie, you can't help but be charmed by him.
This is actually a very smart way of thinking if you are acting as the villian. Villains in real life don’t see them selves as villains so you want to have the mind set that your not playing a villian your just playing an ordinary character
“Alan, they referred to you as a villain again!” “Right, cancel the scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings…. And call off Christmas”
His point I think is that bad people, villains, rarely think of themselves as bad. They believe they are going after what they want, what they deserve. And as an actor, he must approach being the character that way as well, otherwise the villain won't be believable.
@sk8terdiva i remember the director saying once on the commentary for die hard 3 that he always felt that the bad guys were the protagonist of the die hard films because they always had a plan and a goal that they want to achieve. Which made MaClane the antagonist because he represent a major threat or obstacle that they would have to over come in order to achieve their goal. i always found that to be a very interesting way to look at the die hard films.
My goodness. No wonder he gave up playing villains for awhile. It's almost exactly word for word what he says while dressed as the Sheriff of Nottingham when interviewed briefly for the Bonus DVD that comes with the extended version of RHPOT! Oh well, who cares, still love him! The Sheriff and Hans - hands down my favourite of ALL of his character portrayals! TY so much for posting! :_)
I knew it. I knew hans wasn't evil. I knew he was just misunderstood and just wanted to be loved. But i also felt there was more then just going after whst he wanted. He probably had a reason.
Echoing other comments here, I think the idea is that people (or most people, anyway) think in terms of practical motivations; they aren't generally motivated by Evil™ in some abstract sense. They may do things that we determine to be evil as a means to said practical end, but the point, as an actor (or a writer, for that matter) is to spend less time trying to "evil it up" with your characters and more time thinking about how they think and feel in regard to their agenda.
in truth, Alan doesnt really like to play villains but he is great at it. he likes to play the knight in the shining armour sometimes. from what i heard in an interview.
@JDavis4U I wasn't being rude. In fact, I absolutely adore Alan Rickman's acting. I just think there's no point in explaining his character if he explains it himself when he plays his characters. It's because he's so good at becoming the character that makes me wonder why he even gives the time for an interview when all that is needed to be said is right there is his superb acting.
@MsAppassionata You make a fair point. He's not telling us how to judge his characters only how he goes about playing them (brilliantly) but he does seem comfortable playing 'devil's advocate ' as they say when a person seems compelled to suggest the last thing someone else expects or really even wants to hear. Then again, he's not responsible, nor should he change his own opinions, in deference to popular opinion or sentiment. Forcing people to think outside the box often incites criticism
@Shanethefilmmaker They discovered Alan could do a really good American accent after he was given the part. I can't remember how they found out, but that's what gave them the idea (or, actually, if I remember rightly it was Alan's idea) for the scene with Alan and Bruce Willis.
I agree with cridantes. That's his approach to playing the character, people. Many actors will tell you this, if asked. AR doesn't play cardboard cut out villains. He prefers that they have some depth. To do this, the actor must portray the character as if he believes he is right, as if he (the character) believes he is not a villain. He simply wants the money, at any cost.
@GrissomLovesSara I don't think you get what he is saying. He doesn't care if you (the audience) want to judge a character's morality. He's saying that he doesn't judge them. That's his approach as an actor. It would be very difficult to portray a three dimensional character if you view them as a two dimensional villain.
one of the reasons they picked rickman was that they needed a european guy who despite how thick his accent is can imitate an american perfectly so he can talk he can have a dialouge scene with bruce willis without using CB radios nor nearly getting his head blown off.
I read the 2nd top comment first, "oh! watching him in glorious bastards was just one permanent drool." I was like wtf?! Hans Gruber was in inglorious bastards?! Then I read the top comment.... =( haha
Yeah, Hans isn't a bad guy. Like how he was planning on killing 30+ hostages including a pregnant woman and killing two innocent people as well as an entire RV of SWAT guys. What a guy!
Dwaynew Johnson is in GI Joe as well... can't for the life of me remember who he's playing though and he's actually quite a good actor - way WAY better than Hogan ever was
