Justin Long Says Working with 'Generous' Alan Rickman on Galaxy Quest Was 'One of the Greatest Gifts'

Justin Long looks back with gratitude as Galaxy Quest turns 25 — especially for the people he worked with, including the late Alan Rickman.

Long made his acting debut in the 1999 sci-fi comedy, which also starred Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub and Sam Rockwell.

The actor shared a couple of memories from his time Galaxy Quest marks its landmark anniversary on Wednesday, December 25, led by a photo of himself with Rickman, who died in 2016 aged 69, and their co-star Jeremy Howard.

According to Long, the photo “was taken at a party that Alan threw for everyone in the cast and crew.”

“I formed an idea of ​​who Alan Rickman might be based solely on the incredible performances I’d seen as villains in films like ‘Die Hard’ and ‘Robin Hood’ — my experience of him as a person was the exact opposite,” he wrote. is Long. “He was so kind, generous and yes, dry (VERY dry) but in such a playful witty way.”

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Enter Justin Long and Alan Rickman Galaxy Quest (1999).

Universal images; Universal Pictures/Shutterstock

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Long said he “thinks about Rickman often, and when I look back on that experience a quarter of a century later, one of the greatest gifts that came out of it was meeting and working with an actor like Alan. And Sam. Now I know how rare they are.”

Production Galaxy QuestLong also wrote, “it was my first time on a movie set, my first time in LA, one of my first airplane rides, and my first meeting with Sam Rockwell (Figure 2).”

“I’m really grateful to @mrjeremyhoward for sending me this picture of one of the greatest actors of all time (and people) graciously serving two giddy young actors who have just embarked on a fun and wildly fulfilling 25-year adventure,” he added of the photo with Rickman.

Long concluded by expressing his gratitude to “all the fans of this movie for helping it last so long,” captioning the film’s iconic quote, “Never give up, never give up.”

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Sam Rockwell and Justin Long circa 1999.

Justin Long/Instagram

While reminiscing about the movie with Rockwell, 56, on Happy Sad Confused podcast, He thought about the idea of ​​a sequel for a long time.

“There were drafts from [a TV series] it should have been done at Amazon before Alan passed away,” he said. “Everybody was ready to do it and Alan had to miss the pilot. But then he felt that he would be better for the second episode. So that’s how close it was.”

Galaxy Quest tells the story of the cast a Star TrekTV show style (including Rickman’s character) who reluctantly become the stars of a real-life space adventure when they are abducted by aliens who believe the show was real and want their help.

As for where his character Brandon will be in the sequel, Long said, “What I’ve heard is that he’s become quite successful.”

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Source: HIS Education