Eddie Izzard says Alan Rickman told her huge Harry Potter twist over dinner

Izzard and Rickman met shortly after publication of ‘Half-Blood Prince’

Eddie Izzard has revealed that the late Alan Rickman spoilt one of Harry Potter’s biggest twists over a dinner.

Rickman played Severus Snape in the hit film adaptations of JK Rowling’s wizard-themed children’s books.

Comedian and activist Izzard reflected on her interactions with Rickman for a recent feature in The Guardian.

According to Izzard, she went out to dinner with Rickman in New York while she was there performing in a play.

“Alan had started playing Professor Snape from the Harry Potter films,” Izzard recalled. “He portrayed him with an intense and brittle spirit. I asked if Snape continued in future stories.

“‘Well’, he said, ‘the latest book has just come out, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’. Then he quietly added: “And I – I am the Half-Blood Prince!”

While Izzard claims that the meeting took place in 2003, Half-Blood Prince wasn’t in fact published until 2005.

Elsewhere, Izzard also praised Rickman’s character, sharing that he had recommended her for a role opposite Lindsay Duncan in a play by David Mamet.

“It was a wonderful thing for him to do and Lindsay was a fabulous actor to be working with,” she said.