By Grapthar's Hammer ...

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

We long in the Red Dwarf fandom knew Alan Rickman, of course, as an early consideration to play Lister. Though I personally saw him more as a Rimmer candidate (the same way I saw Alfred Molina as more Lister than Rimmer), I have no doubt he could have pulled off the hippie slob type and done so well in his own way, though I do like better than we got an actor of color who probably interpreted the character differently.

Everybody else knows him more from Harry Potter movies and, of course, as perhaps the original blockbuster villain in "Die Hard." But he also did a great turn as a mash-up of the Nimoy-Stewart template in "Galaxy Quest," perhaps one of the seminal sci-fi fandom movies. The creators and actors knew enough about fans and fandom to make fun of it, but also to respect both, and no more was that more apparent than in Rickman's "By Grapthar's Hammer" going from a world-weary actor's hated sneer to an actual action hero's battle cry near the end of the movie.

Yippie-ki-aiee, Alan.