BREAKING NEWS: Justin Long Calls Working with ‘Generous’ Alan Rickman on Galaxy Quest One of His Greatest Gifts.giang

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

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

The actor shared a pair of throwback photos from his time making Galaxy Quest to marks its milestone anniversary on Wednesday, Dec. 25, led by a photo of himself with Rickman, who died in 2016 at age 69, and their costar Jeremy Howard.

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

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

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Long said he “think(s) about” Rickman “often, and when I look back on that experience a quarter century later, one of the greatest gifts that came from it was getting to know and work with an actor like Alan. And Sam. I now know how rare they are.”

Making Galaxy Quest, Long also wrote, “was my first time on a movie set, my first time in LA, one of my first plane rides, and my first time meeting Sam Rockwell (pic 2).”

“I’m really appreciative of @mrjeremyhoward for sending me this pic of one of the all time greatest actors (and people) kindly obliging two giddy young actors who were just embarking on a fun and wildly fulfilling 25 year adventure,” he added of the photo with Rickman.

Long concluded by expressing his gratitude for “all the fans of this movie for helping it last as long as it has,” signing off with an iconic quote from the film: “Never give up, never surrender.”

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While reminiscing about the movie with Rockwell, 56, on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Long pondered the idea of a sequel.

“There were drafts of [a TV series] that was gonna be done at Amazon before Alan passed,” he said. “They were all ready to do that and Alan was gonna have to miss the pilot episode. But then he felt like he’d be better for the second episode. So that’s how close that came.”

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

As for where his character Brandon would be in a follow-up, Long said, “What I heard is that he had become quite successful.”