Which actor plays Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films?

Alan Rickman plays Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films.

Rickman portrays Snape across all eight films, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Snape is introduced as the severe Potions professor whose hostility toward Harry makes his loyalties appear uncertain.

Rickman’s controlled performance helped make Snape one of the series’ most distinctive adult characters. His delivery, stillness and dry humour shaped the film version of the professor, while the later story reveals more about Snape’s history and motivations.

Gary Oldman plays Sirius Black, Ralph Fiennes plays Lord Voldemort and Jason Isaacs plays Lucius Malfoy. Those actors are all associated with major characters in the same franchise, but none plays Snape. Alan Rickman died in 2016, several years after the final Harry Potter film was released.