How Harry Potter’s New Snape Will Compare To Alan Rickman Addressed By HBO Star

Published Nov 11, 2026, 8:25 AM EST

Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. 

New Harry Potter star Paapa Essiedu explains how his take on Severus Snape compares to Alan Rickman.

Except for Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the cast of HBO's Harry Potter series is completely different from the eight movies that were released from 2001-2011. This has naturally led to comparisons between the previous and new actors playing the iconic fantasy characters created by J.K. Rowling, from Daniel Radcliffe and now Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter to Rickman and now Essiedu as Snape.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Essiedu explains that he is not trying to erase the films or imitate the performance of Rickman, who he calls "an icon" and "a legend," but is instead focusing on fully fleshing out Snape amid all the character's contradictions and complexities. Essiedu feels that whether he has done the character justice cannot be fully assessed until the series is complete, and also expresses appreciation for the "goodwill" and those who were close to Rickman reaching out to him. Check out his comments below:

The guy is an icon. He’s a legend. Anyone who’s ever met Alan or spoken to him or been friends with him have all reached out to me and spoken about what Alan would’ve thought about my casting. There’s so much goodwill, and I really feel him with me. There are people who have got such a tight and deeply felt connection to something that they believe is theirs, and it feels like somebody is trying to take their thing and break their thing. I know that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m not trying to break anybody’s nothing. After this, we’re not going to burn the books. We’re not going to remove the DVDs of the films. It’s not the end of that. That all still exists. I’m very clear-minded in my head about what I want to do and what I’m trying to achieve, and the potential of it. [H]opefully I get the opportunity to pull the contradictions and the unexpected masks of Severus so that eventually we get a human being that is fully fleshed [out] and living and breathing. That was my ambition, and is my ambition. And you can judge me sometime—in 2039 or whatever it is—as to whether it’s been successful or not.

While Essiedu is focused on his interpretation of the character, he also shared that he's read the books, but hasn't watched the movies, so he has not seen Rickman's performance for himself: "To be honest, I never watched the movies when I was younger. I still don’t think I really know what happens in Deathly Hallows because I read it so quickly that it didn’t really seep in."

Essiedu's mention of not being able to judge the success of his performance until 2039 is a reference to the show's ambitious plan, which is to make one season for each of the seven Harry Potter books. Given the scale of the high-budget HBO fantasy show, it will likely take over a decade to fulfill the plan of making seven seasons that adapt the full book series.

While season 1 took several years to make, season 2 is already in production, which is meant to avoid overly long hiatuses in the coming years, but it will still end up being a lengthy process.

With seven seasons, which as of now are eight episodes each, as opposed to eight movies, Essiedu is poised to end up having more scenes as Snape than Rickman ever did, including potential additions to the character's story that go beyond the source material and the films.

At the same time, his response emphasizes that the show is not overwriting the movies, which will continue to exist and be celebrated for their adaptation of the novels, and Alan Rickman's performance is an integral part of that legacy. Rickman passed away at the age of 69 in 2016.

As for the final season, it will have many surprises in store for Essiedu regarding Snape's story, based on the actor's comments about not remembering what happens in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Along with Essiedu as Snape, McLaughlin as Harry, and Davis as Flitwick, the cast of HBO's Harry Potter features Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley, Gabriel Harland as George Weasley, Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch.

Harry Potter premieres on December 25 on HBO and HBO Max.

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  Dominic McLaughlin

  Harry Potter

• Arabella Stanton

  Hermione Granger

• Alastair Stout

  Ron Weasley

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  Janet McTeer

  Minerva McGonagall