Appearance: Rugged, 6ft 1in, lank-haired, middle-aged English version of Keanu Reeves.
Screen persona: Suave, sardonic, sexy villain, charming on the surface but secretly bent on the destruction of either Los Angeles (as Hans Gruber in Die Hard), the moral probity of the pre-revolution French aristocracy (as Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses) or the redistributive economy of Sherwood Forest (as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves).
Off-screen persona: Suave, sardonic, sexy... and an extremely amiable and self-effacing fellow.
Not the tiniest dash of villainy? 'Fraid not. His thespian friends, having been bought numerous drinks by newspaper profile-writers, will reluctantly admit that he's "hard to work with" and "likes to get his own way" - basic qualifications for treading the boards, really. But that's about it.
So his squeaky-clean image has been blown apart by a scandal involving narcotics, firearms and a lithe female soap star? Nope. But rumour has it the Acton-born actor may be Labour's candidate for the byelection in Alan Clark's old constituency, Kensington and Chelsea.
But I thought that seat already had its suave villain intent on world destruction? Actually, Michael Portillo's candidacy has not been confirmed yet, and the Tories have yet to choose from a list of 100 hopefuls for their safest seat.
So Labour's using the old "field someone called Alan to influence loyal Clarkites on a sub-conscious level" gambit? We'll make a Millbank strategist of you yet.
There is a certain likeness. They are both called Alan, and have a craggy charm. But the similarities end there. Clark: patrician Tory, notorious libido, dead. Rickman: old-fashioned socialist, faithful to one and only girlfriend, alive.
Did you say "socialist"? Well, er, apparently he used to be in CND. But now he's such a new Labour favourite that Peter Mandelson says he'd choose Rickman to play him in a film of his life.
