It's not unreasonable to say that Alan Rickman's portrayal of Harry Potter villain/hero Severus Snape was one of the most iconic pieces of acting in modern times.
The late actor's performance has hailed by critics and writer JK Rowling praised it for its authenticity, saying that it was almost as if it was written just for him.
However, a collection of personal letters belonging to Rickman, which are due to go to auction, tell a different side to the story, revealing that at times the actor felt frustrated in the role and concerned about how it fit into the wider Harry Potter franchise.
The collection is made up of letters and postcards from various actors and entertainment players - including Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, and J.K. Rowling, who wrote the series, reports the Metro.
David Heyman - the producer who cast Rickman in the famous role - was one of the people who wrote to Rickman after the release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, saying: "Thank you for making HP2 a success. I know, at times, you are frustrated but please know that you are an integral part of the films. And you are brilliant."
It also looks as though he was still feeling some doubt while working on The Half Blood Prince in 2009.
In a series of notes about Snape's development, he wrote: He wrote: "It's as if David Yates has decided that this is not important in the scheme of things i.e. teen audience appeal."
Reports suggest that the collection will fetch around £950,000 at auction when presented at the ABA Rare Book Fair by Pearson, who worked with the late star's estate to assemble the collection.
"It's a fabulous collection. There are 35 boxes of it - there is the Truly, Madly, Deeply script in there and Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves is in there," Pearson told the Daily Mirror.
"Every single script of a play or film, all of his diaries and a massive amount of correspondence from pretty much every one you've ever heard of."
As well as letters from the Harry Potter cast and crew, the archive also contains scripts and correspondence from Prince Charles and former US president Bill Clinton.
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.Topics: Harry Potter, Entertainment, TV and Film