--- description: It'll change your entire perception of Defense Against the Dark Arts. title: See What Professor Snape Sounds Like After Inhaling Helium image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca7acaa85adff494/6988554ca988ca71986b31b4/477504840-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See What Professor Snape Sounds Like After Inhaling Helium by [Megan Daley / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Megan Daley / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2015 10:02 PM CUT  Alan Rickman on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' on June 17, 2015. Alan Rickman on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' on June 17, 2015.Douglas Gorenstein—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images by [Megan Daley / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Megan Daley / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2015 10:02 PM CUT Professor Snape, a.k.a. Alan Rickman, struck fear in the hearts of Hogwarts’ students in the [_Harry Potter_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brDO1mx4SUo "undefined")films, but there’s nothing more magical than hearing Rickman’s voice influenced by several mouthfuls of helium. Back in 2013, Jimmy Fallon and Benedict Cumberbatch did their very best impressions of the actor during what they called a “[Rickman-Off](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/benedict-cumberbatch-and-jimmy-fallon-have-an-alan-rickman-o#.hjvOB4Pm3 "undefined").” So, when Rickman himself appeared as a guest on _The Tonight Show_ on Wednesday night, he was ready to confront Fallon – armed with two “truth-telling” helium-filled balloons. “This is really like a James Bond show, this really is,” Fallon said. “I’m very sorry you were offended, I’m very sorry. And welcome to the show.” The two laughed their way through the remainder of the interview, with Fallon finally getting the actor to say “Harry Potter” after he’d taken a few puffs from his helium balloon. Watch the full interview below. _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/18/alan-rickman-jimmy-fallon-helium "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3927603/alan-rickman-jimmy-fallon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3927603/alan-rickman-jimmy-fallon/"},"headline":"See What Professor Snape Sounds Like After Inhaling Helium","datePublished":"2015-06-18T22:02:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:21:15.714Z","description":"It'll change your entire perception of Defense Against the Dark Arts","url":"https://time.com/3927603/alan-rickman-jimmy-fallon/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","jimmy fallon","Harry Potter","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca7acaa85adff494/6988554ca988ca71986b31b4/477504840-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Daley / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca7acaa85adff494/6988554ca988ca71986b31b4/477504840-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Alan Rickman on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' on June 17, 2015.","caption":"Alan Rickman on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' on June 17, 2015.","creditText":"Douglas Gorenstein—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3927603/alan-rickman-jimmy-fallon/","name":"See What Professor Snape Sounds Like After Inhaling Helium"}}]}] ```