Juliet Stevenson: Alan Rickman is on my shoulder every day

Juliet Stevenson has said her friend Alan Rickman remains “on my shoulder” every day.

The Bafta-nominated British actress starred opposite Rickman, who died in 2016 aged 69, in the 1991 film Truly, Madly, Deeply.

The 63-year-old told the Daily Telegraph: “He was always telling me how to live and what not to do, how to behave better.

“It’s still the case absolutely that, all the time, he is on my shoulder.”

Stevenson said she was put off Hollywood by the fact that even the most talented stars lasted only a few years.

“I didn’t feel that world was benign, and I’m really industryphobic,” she said.

“I am disastrous as a schmoozer. It almost makes me panicky. I have to be dragged to awards dos and red-carpet dos.

“I wasn’t good at that thing you have to do out there, of going into offices and wowing people. I’m not beautiful, I’m not that sort of person.

“You’d look around and think ‘Everybody’s temporary’.

“Even the most brilliant actors there can last for just five years, but in the UK you can have a career that goes from 26 to 96, if you’re careful and you have a gift.”