Just as Alanis Morisette's casting as God was inspired, the decision to bring in Rickman to play Her right hand man (infamously minus the biologically definitive parts) was even more genius. Of course God would sound like Alan Rickman: it goes without saying. Though it's somewhat overlooked in the Kevin Smith as genius/chancer debate, Dogma is a brilliant achievement: a swaggering, stoner-cool take on modern religion packed with stars and attitude. And Alan Rickman is one half of why it deserves to be so cherished (Chris Rock is the other, if you're wondering). He might not be in it much, but he effuses annoyance and drips sarcasm, as if humanity is an inconvenience to everyone charged with working for God. Quite an idea. Rather brilliantly, Rickman's presence was also a logistical masterstroke, because of the effect it had on Jason Mewes. While having the pair together may have seemed an almighty culture clash, Kevin Smith used Rickman's casting as a means of controlling Mewes through fear:
"I really impressed upon him that he had to be prepared for this movie. 'There are real actors in this one,' we kept telling him."
Hilariously, Mewes not only prepared his own role, he actually memorized the entire screenplay, because he "didn't want to p*ss off that Rickman dude".
