10 Things You Didn't Know About Alan Rickman

8. Before Acting, He Was A Successful Graphic Designer

Alan Rickman has such a powerful, magnetic screen presence that it's hard to believe there was ever a time when he wasn't acting. Before appearing in films you could presumably assume he was treading the stage, but surely he was never not acting?

Yet it's true. Before acting, Rickman graduated from Chelsea College of Art and Design, studying a post-graduate degree at the Royal College of Art. While he was there (around 1969 and 1970), he worked on the student journal Ark, but that's not all. He also established a successful graphic design agency called Graphiti. In the end, however, Rickman dissolved the company whenever he achieved a place in the Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts in 1972, and the world was a better place because of it.
Contributor
Contributor

Commonly found reading, sitting firmly in a seat at the cinema (bottle of water and a Freddo bar, please) or listening to the Mountain Goats.