Alan Rickman’s personal diaries set for posthumous release

The diaries of beloved British actor Alan Rickman are officially set to be released on October 18, according to a new Variety report. Madly Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman, is an edited collection of the Harry Potter star’s personal writings, which totaled 27 volumes spanning 25 years of his life.

Rickman reportedly always intended to publish his diaries, which he began penning in the early ’90s. This fact is supported by the fact that his wife and partner of more than 50 years, Rima Horton, was involved in the project. Horton wrote the afterword for Madly Deeply, “chronicling life after Rickman’s last diary entry in December of 2015,” per Variety. Kate Winslet, Rickman’s co-star on Sense And Sensibility and A Little Chaos, wrote an entry for the introduction.

“I’m delighted that Canongate will be publishing Alan’s diaries, and couldn’t have wished for a finer appointment of editor than Alan Taylor,” Horton told The Guardian when the book was first announced in 2020. “The diaries reveal not just Alan Rickman the actor, but the real Alan–his sense of humour, his sharp observation, his craftsmanship and his devotion to the arts.”

At the time, Taylor described the diaries as “anecdotal, indiscreet, witty, gossipy and utterly candid, they make compulsive reading and offer a peerless insight into the daily life of a remarkable actor who was as beloved in the US as he surely was in the UK.” Entries contain Rickman’s thoughts on politics, reviews of plays he had seen, stories about his circle of friends, and observations behind the scenes of some of his biggest projects, including Harry Potter.

“More than anything though, the diaries reveal the real Alan Rickman, funny, passionate, occasionally provocative, and give fresh insight into his art,” publisher Canongate said in a previous statement. “He wrote his diaries as if chatting with a close friend. They provide pitch-perfect vignettes: short, pithy paragraphs painting big pictures, and offering intriguing insights into himself, his peers and the world around him. They are intimate, perceptive and very funny.”