“’A little Chaos’ is ready, it will be the closing night film of the Toronto Festival and I’ll play Louis XIV, the Sun King”. After dropping the character of Professor Piton from Harry Potter saga,  Alan Rickman tells the  Giffoni Experience audience about his latest directorial effort, also starrings Kate Winslet and Matthias Schoenaerts. “It took 18 months to finish it – English actor explains - The film, partly true and partly invention, follows the construction of the grand fountains at the Palace of Versailles, which is an historical fact. Other than that the story is a complete invention: the esteemed assignment is entrusted to female landscape-gardener Sabine De Barra, played by Kate Winslet, but such a thing would have clearly been impossible at  that time. The architect will have to face the political and chauvinist schemes of the court.  Of course there's much more – explains Rickman – It's also a feminist film, written by a woman (Allison Deegan) against the conception of women as objects, and it's a love story as well. It took a great production effort: I'm not getting back behind the camera soon".

Then he talks about his private life, pointing out a few similarities with Harry Potter’s. “My father died when I was 8 and I felt different from other children who had  ‘normal’ family situations. Luckily I attended a school where difference was a value and children were encouraged to study subjects very different from one another, such as arts and physics. That was a great help to me”.

Ranging from his future projects to former successes, he can’t but mention Harry Potter film franchise, where he plays half-blood wizard Severus Snape. “Since the shooting just lasted 7 weeks a year, I didn’t notice Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint growing. I suddenly realized they had turned 22! It’s a miracle they’ve stayed sane: such an awful lot of work is hardly bearable for little children as they were at the time". There will be a sequel for Harry Potter? “I really don’t know, I’m dead now” – he jokes, referring to his characters’ death - He wasn’t totally evil, everything he ever did was guided by love”.

Apart from Harry Potter, he’s played many different characters over his twenty-year career. “One of the most difficult was Ronald Regan in ‘The Butler’. I may not agree with his politics, yet I must admit he had many qualities and was very much loved at the White House. It’s no easy task to judge him”. He says he’s unlikely to dedicate himself to any other children oriented film soon “I’ve been offered a script focused on a teenager but I haven’t decided yet. Actually, I’m for elderly actors like me. Young actors have been pushing us out”, jokes Rickman.

His near future includes the film “A Promise”, a French/Belgian production directed by Patrice Leconte starring Rebecca Hall, set for release on 18 September. But he's got also theatre in the pipeline: “I’ll go back to theatre soon, it’s my religion – he says - In a world like ours, where youth are continuously watching their smartphones screens, and are continuously pressed by the social media judgment, a festival like Giffoni can give them back the sense of their power. I’m also involved in the training of young actors and I keep saying to them: ‘Don’t think about acting, read a lot and just follow the stream’. In terms of talking to actors I’ve learned that less is more”.