Both David Bowie and Alan Rickman passed away, aged 69 of cancer, within a few days of each other last week. This has left a gaping hole in both the music and film industry and we will never see the talents of either of these artists again.

David Bowie

Of course, David Bowie was more famous in the music industry, but he is often overlooked for his acting in the odd film here and there. I thought he was particularly brilliant in Christopher Nolan’s magician film, ‘The Prestige’ where he played Nikolai Tesla and like Bowie, his performance is endlessly charismatic and enigmatic. Nolan famously had to convince Bowie to take the role as he knew he was the only fit.

Alan Rickman 

Another wonderful actor, Alan Rickman made every role he played his own and he could transform hokey scripts into works of art. Although everyone seems to agree, his best roles, in my opinion, were in ‘Die Hard’ and the ‘Harry Potter’ series. Rickman revolutionised the Hollywood villain with his dark turn as Hans Gruber in the first ‘Die Hard’ film and his performance was the start of many English actors taking on the stereotypical Hollywood villain, but his is one of the standouts. In fact, I’d go so far as to say Hans Gruber is one of the best villains in film of all time. His performance as Professor Snape in the ‘Harry Potter’ series was another work of genius and he really made the role his own and particularly in the last film, he took a very emotional turn. Rickman was also famous for comedic roles as well and his performance in ‘Love Actually’ revealed a very different man and he is one of the standouts of the film.