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Alan Rickman's personal shooting script, letters from Richard Curtis, crew hat and T-shirt, and other production ephemera from the production of Curtis' romantic comedy film Love Actually. This lot comes from the personal archive of the late Alan Rickman.

Included in the lot is a script, hand-annotated by Rickman, credited to Curtis, and dated ''August 27th, 2002'' with revisions dated ''October 15th, 2002'', as well as two letters from Curtis to Rickman, discussing the film, dated 14th June 2002 and 16th August 2002. Notable annotations include handwritten line alterations. 36 of the 123 pages in this script have been annotated and/or highlighted.

Also included is a red and white knitted hat, with "Love Actually" embroidered on the front alongside the image of a heart, and a red T-shirt in size "L" with "Love Actually" printed on the front, alongside an image of a fish beside a heart on a fishing line, as well as a call sheet, a photograph of Rickman, and a letter from ''Tim'' and ''Eric'' at Working Title Films. The lot is contained within a plastic box, with "LOVE ACTUALLY" handwritten down the side in black ink in Rickman's handwriting. Rickman personally archived all of his cinematic mementoes in this manner before his death in 2016. Dimensions (box): 33.5 cm x 26 cm x 6 cm (13.25" x 10.25" x 2.25")

Estimate: £3,000 - 6,000 M


Equally at home on stage or screen, Alan Rickman was a major star, despite entering his profession late. After working in graphic design, his first theatrical engagement after graduating from RADA in 1974 was at the Library Theatre, Manchester, where, aged 28, he was contracted for a season of underwhelming plays.

Steady work followed, but an unhappy season with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1978 led Rickman to question his future. But after appearances at the Bush, London's pre-eminent fringe theatre of the time, in 1981, he found his spiritual home: the Royal Court Theatre. Rickman appeared in several shows, which established him as a leading man, but also provided him with the rehearsal technique - his "process" - which he would use in the preparation of every role he played. He returned to the RSC in 1985 to play the Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, first in Stratford, then the West End and finally Broadway, establishing him as a theatrical star.

Rickman's commitment to theatre meant that he did not make his theatrical film debut until 1988, but what a debut it was. Die Hard was an instant classic, with Rickman elevating a character who could have been the standard Euro-villain into a Hollywood Hall of Fame psychopath, Hans Gruber. Rickman became an overnight star at the age of forty-two, and three years later, he cemented his place in Hollywood with his film-stealing performance in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

He set about putting his fame to work for him, enabling "difficult" projects to get funding, as well as opening doors and wallets for his favourite causes. Rickman was a firm believer in "sending the elevator back down" and provided support to young actors, writers and theatres whenever possible. His fellow professionals shared audience adoration of him, and the young casts of the Harry Potter films could not have asked for a more generous mentor than Severus Snape, on whom they bestowed homemade gifts and awards - all of which Rickman kept, and form a poignant part of this archive.


View all lots from LOVE ACTUALLY (2003)

View all lots from Alan Rickman Archive