There are some actors who embody a role so well that it’s hard to separate their performance from the character. I’d classify Alan Rickman‘s performance as Severus Snape as a great example, as he really did make the role in the book-to-screen adaptation of Harry Potter his own. The only other Snape performance that I’m used to is Jim Dale’s voice for the character during his narration of the original U.S. audiobooks. Suffice to say, it’s been an adjustment to hear a different voice behind the Potions Master, but after finishing up the full cast audio edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I realized that Riz Ahmed’s take on the character has really grown on me.
I guess I should start by saying that my feelings about Alan Rickman’s Snape are kind of complicated. On one hand, Rickman is iconic, and I think he elevated the Harry Potter movies with his take on the deadpan, often grumpy professor, who Harry and his friends occasionally thought was up to no good. But on the other hand, as a major fan of the books, there were things about Rickman’s Snape that were different from what I imagined about the character. Part of that could be due to Jim Dale’s voice performance on the original U.S. audiobooks, but I think another part was the tone Snape takes in the book being different (to me, anyway) than Rickman’s tone, which was dry and even funny at times. The point of bringing this up at all is to emphasize that Rickman has a very specific take on Snape — a take I loved, for sure, but not an exact match for how I imagined him from the book.
What I’ve realized in listening to these new full-cast audiobooks is that Ahmed’s take is not only different from Dale’s and Rickman’s, but I also appreciate that the Sound of Metal and Relay star doesn’t seem to be trying to channel either of their versions of the character for his own. And it’s just as well, as I think one of the things that makes Rickman’s performance stand out includes his facial expressions and pauses, in addition to line delivery. Given that we’re dealing with an audio production here, the actors are bringing the characters to life by voice alone. Ahmed’s take really captures Snape’s specific way of speaking, often soft-spoken but articulate and very deliberate. I suppose we could say the same for Rickman’s take, but the delivery is different.
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I don’t know if I’ve just been distracted by all of the other great voice performances on these new editions of the audiobooks (James McAvoy’s Moody performance in Goblet of Fire, for example, was off-the-charts!), or it’s the fact that Snape stands out more as a character in Order of the Phoenix, but this was the book that got me noticing how great Ahmed’s performance is. In the fifth Harry Potter book, Dumbledore tasks Snape with teaching Harry Occlumency, which leads to a few 1:1 training sessions between the Boy Who Lived and one of his recurring nemeses. Most of the time throughout the books, the Snape we see is one who keeps his emotions in check, however there’s a scene in Order of the Phoenix when he loses his cool–when he catches Harry with the Pensieve containing his memories–and you can really hear the emotion in Ahmed’s voice as Snape throws Harry out of his office.
I’m absolutely loving these newly released audiobooks, and I’m especially looking forward to Audible’s release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which elevates Snape’s involvement in the story in a couple of major ways (to put it mildly). I can’t wait to continue to hear Riz Ahmed’s version of the character. If Paapa Essiedu weren’t already lined up to play Severus Snape in HBO’s upcoming TV series adaptation of Harry Potter, I’d be dream-casting Ahmed in the role. Alas, I’m excited to see what Essiedu brings to the character when the show debuts. At the very least, Ahmed’s performance is a reminder that, as much as we may love Alan Rickman in the role, it’s also great to see new takes on one of the series best and most-layered characters.