TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In Pop Culture, when you've played arguably two of the top five villains in film history, you got to be doing something right. The voice, scowl, part of what made Alan Rickman so great on the screen. Rickman died today after a battle with cancer, but he will of course live on as the Vile Snape from the "Harry Potter" films and the part that sent your heart to your shoes in the modern Christmas classic, "Love Actually." Also from an even better Christmas movie "Die Hard" as the evil Hans Groeber. And somehow Rickman was able to convince all of us watching including almost John McClain that he was one of the good guys.</s>TAPPER: Where I come from it's not Christmas until you see Hans Gruber fall from the Nakatomi Tower. Yippee kaya, Hans. Alan Rickman was 69 years old. Finally from us today, the Academy Awards nominations were announced this morning and a few friends of the show got some nods. Matt Damon nominated for best actor, joined us to talk about his clean water mission in developing countries. Bryan Cranston is nominated in the same category for "Trumbo" about the Hollywood blacklist. He talked about that dark chapter in American history on our show just a few weeks ago. I have to confess we're most excited about Henry Hughes' nomination for best live action short film. He wrote and directed the short film "Day One," the first lieutenant served at one of the most dangerous outposts in Afghanistan. I got to know him while writing the outpost. After a rough time re- acclimating to civilian life, Henry Hughes went to Los Angeles to pursue his dream. And now he's living his dream. We could not be prouder of him. That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Turning you over now to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Harry Potter, Die Hard Actor Dies At 69.