Alan Rickman discusses working as a director, playing Louis XIV

Alan Rickman‘s (Professor Severus Snape) A Little Chaos is being shown as part of the BFI London Film Festival. It is the second directorial project of Rickman, who also stars in the film as King Louis XIV. The film also stars Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) and Kate Winslet and is about a pair of landscape gardeners as they compete for the opportunity to design the grand gardens of the Palace of Versailles.

In a new interview for the Upcoming, Rickman discusses the origins of the film. He is asked if he was approached with the script while filming Harry Potter or whether it was something he had been working on for a while.

I can’t even remember now but you know, once you’re doing something like ‘Harry Potter’, even though I was only doing seven weeks a year on it, it just makes it impossible to direct another movie; you need a year and a half of your time.

He talks about what he enjoyed most about playing King Louis XIV.

It was hard to enjoy because I was too worried about my directing hat, but fortunately I had a big wig to cover that! In many ways you kind of feel sorry for him – you think, ‘That’s a lonely job being Louis XIV; it might be powerful, but it’s lonely.’ Playing Louis XIV is a huge, lonely job, like [being] a director.

He goes on discuss whether he has an interest in directing a British period drama or directing anything in the near future.

No, not history films. No, I’m going off to do something about terrorism next! Not as a director at the moment, no, I am going to put my acting shoes back on. This film gets released in the spring, so then I’ll be doing this again.

Finally, he speaks about how easy it was to work with such a talented cast.

It’s a fantastic luxury, to be honest. When Kate and I sat down together to do that scene, we just sat down and chatted together. At this point in one’s working life you learn to trust a warm spirit; it’s all about listening and talking and listening to the person who is talking.

You can watch a clip from the film below.

A Little Chaos will be released worldwide early next year. Are you looking forward to seeing this film? Are you excited to see the actor on the big screen again? Let us know your thoughts!