Alan Rickman was the only person trusted with the full Snape storyline in Harry Potter from ‘early on’.
The late actor, who portrayed Severus Snape in all eight films, was let in on the true nature of his character far before the last book was released.
Fans didn’t find out that Snape was actually dedicated to protecting Harry, despite appearing to be Voldemort’s right-hand man, until the final book and film.
Harry Potter author and creator J. K. Rowling reportedly gave Rickman the ‘inside line’, according to LadBible.
But the actor never told anyone – not even director Chris Columbus.
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Alan Rickman as Severus Snape in Harry Potter. Credit: Warner Brothers
Daniel Radcliffe (who played Harry Potter) tells Gary Oldham (who played Sirius Black): “Just Rickman.
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“He had the inside line. He very, very early said to Jo, he was like, ‘I think I need to know what happens’.”
Gary Oldman and Daniel Radcliffe on the Harry Potter reunion show. Credit: HBO
Oldman replies: “Rickman would have an in, wouldn’t he?!”
Radcliffe then says: “And he never told Chris [Columbus], he never told anyone. Chris would literally say to him, why are you doing that like that? He was like I’ll tell you later…”
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Chris Columbus has previously praised Rickman’s ‘brilliant choices’ throughout the film series, especially reflecting back once Snape’s fate was finally revealed.
He told AV Club: “J.K. Rowling took him [Rickman] out to dinner and told him something about what was going to happen to Snape throughout the series and in the seventh book.
“So when we would be on set, he would do these tiny little idiosyncrasies with his performance, and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.
“I’d walk up to him afterwards and say, ‘What was that?’ He would say, ‘Oh, you’ll know when you read the seventh book.’ It was like, ‘Well, yeah, but that doesn’t help me now. I’m directing the first movie.’
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“Once I read the seventh book, though, I thought, ‘Oh, that was brilliant, his choice.'”
Featured image: Warner Brothers
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James Acaster reveals eerie song all Traitors contestants are forced to listen to before every roundtable
Emily Sergeant
James Acaster has revealed the eerie (and pretty surprising) song that all Traitors contestants are forced to listen to before every roundtable.
In case you’ve been living comfortably under a rock, you’ll probably be aware that comedian James Acaster is currently a contestant on this current season of BBC‘s smash-hit reality TV competition show, The Celebrity Traitors – a show that viewers in their millions are tuning into each week, with some big names on the cast.
Acaster is currently (spoiler alert… but it shouldn’t be at this point, we are several weeks in after all) one of three Traitors competing on the show, and he’s doing a pretty good job at it.
But we wonder how much of his success can be put down to the producers’ love of a certain song they like to play before every roundtable? Probably next to none, but it’s surprising to find out how much of an integral role the tune plays though.
The song we’re referring to here, it has been revealed, is ‘The Hanging Tree’ – a folk ballad made popular by The Hunger Games.
‘The Hanging Tree’, composed by James Newton Howard and Suzanne Collins, was famously sung by Jennifer Lawrence’s character Katniss Everdeen in the third instalment of the film franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.
The lyrics are as follows:
Are you, are you Coming to the tree Where they strung up a man They say who murdered three? Strange things did happen here No stranger would it be If we met at midnight In the hanging tree
So, as you can see, the song does make reference to ‘murder’, which is a key part of The Traitors game (not real murder, of course), but even with that context, we’re still not sure why the producers are keen to play it out before every roundtable.
During a viral TikTok clip from an on-stage Q&A this week, Acaster revealed the song’s usage to the audience: “You all walk in silence down the corridor, and you all sit down, and they don’t announce it’s gonna happen.
“The first time this will completely blindside you, but they do it every single roundtable. They play that song from The Hunger Games, that ‘coming to the tree’ song. Like acapella, Jennifer Lawrence.”
He continued: “It was every f***ing time, it was the only song we heard the whole time we were in there, and all day I would have it in my head constantly, everyone would, I’d go ‘have you got coming to the tree in your head?’ and they’d go ‘yes, it’s in my head, again’.”
Viewers who watch the show may have spotted the song being played in the background or transition between certain scenes, but now it’s been revealed that the contestants hear it too.
Who would’ve thought?
Featured Image – Euan Cherry / BBC / Studio Lambert
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Tickets officially go on sale for rare 70mm IMAX screenings of Dune: Part Three in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Tickets have now officially gone on sale for rare 70mm IMAX screenings of Dune: Part Three in Manchester.
Arriving on screens from 18 December and gearing up to be one of the most anticipated films of the year, Dune: Part Three – which is the third and final instalment in director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune franchise – will be screening in IMAX 70mm at Vue Manchester Printworks, one of only three venues to show it in this format nationwide.
There are only 40 other venues across the globe showing the film in IMAX 70mm, and Manchester is the only city outside of London to screen the blockbuster this way too.
Based on the novels of Frank Herbert and set nearly two decades after the previous film, Dune: Part Three features an ensemble cast of all-star names led by Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya.
Alongside them will be Jason Momoa, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rebecca Ferguson, Robert Pattinson, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin.
After seats for a special early screening of the film in IMAX sold out in less than 30 minutes last month, the IMAX 70mm showings – which officially went live today (20 October) – are expected to be snapped up fast by film fans in Manchester.
“A decade in the making, Denis Villeneuve’s epic Dune trilogy is reaching its dramatic conclusion this December,” explained Dean Cross, who is the Senior Screen Content Manager at Vue.
“As the only venue outside of London to be screening Dune: Part Three in IMAX 70mm, it’s a privilege for us to offer this unique way to experience the film.”
Daisy Jackson -
29th December 2021 
