‘The greatest gift’: Evanna Lynch’s moving Alan Rickman tribute

The stars who worked with Alan Rickman for one of his most memorable roles, Harry Potter's Professor Snape, were among the first to share their tributes yesterday.

Alan's family confirmed the actor had passed away from cancer at the age of 69, after a battle with the disease that he had kept a secret from the public.

One of the most beautiful tributes we've seen so far comes from Evanna Lynch, the Irish actress who played Luna Lovegood in the seven films.

Taking to Facebook last night, the Louth native admitted that she gave Alan a "wide berth" during her years working on the Harry Potter franchise, but finally got to know him better during a chance meeting some time later.

"Truthfully, I was terrified of him as Snape and throughout the course of the films," she explained.

"I assumed he WAS Snape and made myself small whenever he went gliding past in those big, shadowy black robes.

"It wasn't until a few years later that I had the chance to meet Alan as himself. It was at a charity dinner and our nameplates were next to each other."

After getting over her nerves, Evanna explained how she took her seat and was pleasantly surprised by Alan's kindness towards her.

"I sat down and much to my shock he greeted me warmly and by name. My real name! 

"The conversation got round to acting quickly and at the time I was stressing about the pressure I felt to already be a successful actress and that I'd run out of time to make mistakes.

"He said not to worry about getting 'there' and instead to focus on feeding my soul and following my heart from place to place."

The actress goes on to explain how the conversation stuck with her for a long time afterward.

"After that meeting I thought about him a lot and what a truly lovely, kind, generous person he was.

"For someone as established, wise and revered as he, the greatest gift you can give someone is your full attention and presence in the moment. 

"Please honour his memory and what he gave us by talking about and sharing stories and continuing to celebrate his legacy so then he will be here, as we like to say, 'Always'."