Daniel Radcliffe chose a strange place to publish his long, sad goodbye to Alan Rickman

Iconic British actor Alan Rickman died at age 69 after a battle with cancer. Those who knew him best, along with lifelong fans, have expressed their shock and grief on various social media sites. "Harry Potter" actor Daniel Radcliffe, who is known for staying away from social media, shared his thoughts in a Google Plus post, an odd choice considering no one really uses Google+.

Radcliffe notes how supportive of his career Rickman always was: "He was so encouraging of me both on set and in the years post-Potter. I'm pretty sure he came and saw everything I ever did on stage both in London and New York. He didn't have to do that."

Radcliffe was just 11 when he was cast as Harry Potter. By the conclusion of filming all eight "Harry Potter" movies, he was 21. Rickman played one of the most contentious characters in the films, the potions master and double agent Severus Snape. 

In 2011, after concluding filming the final "Harry Potter" movie, Rickman wrote his own goodbye-letter to the series. The letter mention Radcliffe, along with his co-stars Emma Watson (Hermion) and Rupert Grint (Ron). Here's that excerpt from Rickman:

I have just returned from the dubbing studio where I spoke into a microphone as Severus Snape for the last time. On the screen were some flashback shots of Daniel, Emma, and Rupert from ten years ago. They were 12. I have also recently returned from New York, and while I was there, I saw Daniel singing and dancing (brilliantly) on Broadway. A lifetime seems to have passed in minutes.

Here's the full text of Radcliffe's post:

Alan Rickman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with. He is also, one of the loyalest and most supportive people I've ever met in the film industry. He was so encouraging of me both on set and in the years post-Potter. I'm pretty sure he came and saw everything I ever did on stage both in London and New York. He didn't have to do that. I know other people who've been friends with him for much much longer than I have and they all say "if you call Alan, it doesn't matter where in the world he is or how busy he is with what he's doing, he'll get back to you within a day".

People create perceptions of actors based on the parts they played so it might surprise some people to learn that contrary to some of the sterner(or downright scary) characters he played, Alan was extremely kind, generous, self-deprecating and funny. And certain things obviously became even funnier when delivered in his unmistakable double-bass.

As an actor he was one of the first of the adults on Potter to treat me like a peer rather than a child. Working with him at such a formative age was incredibly important and I will carry the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career. Film sets and theatre stages are all far poorer for the loss of this great actor and man.

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