Alan Rickman (Writer/Director)Alan Rickman's first screen role was in John McTiernan's Die Hard, following on from the Broadway run of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," where his performance as Valmont had received a Tony nomination. Subsequently, for his work in Kevin Reynolds' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Stephen Poliakoff's Close My Eyes and Anthony Minghella's Truly Madly Deeply, he was named Evening Standard Film Actor of the Year. For Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, he also received the BAFTA Award. His performances in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility and Neil Jordan's Michael Collins both received BAFTA nominations, and he recently won Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG awards for his performance in Uli Edel's HBO production, "Rasputin."
Rickman's other film performances include Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts, Mike Newell's An Awfully Big Adventure and Roger Spottiswoode's Mesmer, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Montreal Film Festival.
Alan Rickman trained as a graphic designer at Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art before receiving a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He spent two seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has worked extensively in contemporary theater at the Royal Court, Bush and Hampstead Theatres. More recently, he appeared in two productions for Thelma Holt -- "Tango at the End of Winter," directed by Yukio Ninagawa for the Edinburgh Festival and the West End, and "Hamlet," directed by Robert Sturua at Riverside Studios.
The Winter Guest is Rickman's first film as director.
