Although you may not have known it, we've been here the whole time. We've seen you take an entire building hostage, return from the dead to find your lover, ruthlessly dictate the city of Nottingham and secretly watch over the child of your deceased love. You stole our hearts in many more ways than just one, and you set the standards high for actors across the world. Although you didn't see or hear from us, we've all taken the backseat and admired your unfathomable talent from afar as you took the cinemas by storm.

We first witnessed you blossom into fame at the release of Die Hard in 1988. You probably didn't know this when you graciously accepted the role as Hans Gruber in your first major film, but you set the standards high for generations of villains to come. Maybe it was your former experience on Broadway. Maybe it was your passion for theater and acting. But something about seeing you on screen as one of film history's most ruthless villains made us believe that you belonged in front of the cameras. It was in Die Hard, when many of us witnessed your amazing talent, that we realized that you would forever leave your mark on the cinematic world.

We looked on with amazement as you stole our hearts in Truly, Madly, Deeply in the form of Jamie Oliver: the deceased cellist who returns from the dead to comfort his grieving lover. You captured the heart of every girl across the nations, and gave us all hope that one day a man like Jamie would come into our lives and sweep us off of our feet. It is because of you that we consider Nina Mitchell one of the luckiest women to ever grace the Hollywood screens. Your role as Jamie showed us that love knows no boundaries, not even in death. Little did you know it, but you didn't just set the bar high for on-screen villains. You also set the bar for lovers everywhere.

And while we thought you couldn't get any better, you proved us wrong as you took to the cameras again in 1991 as your role as the Sheriff Of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. You had women across the nations eating out of the palm of your hand and begging you to take them captive like you did to Marian Dubois, the love interest of Robin Hood. You portrayed the role of a ruthless tyrant so perfectly that we all knew the film would not have been right had anyone else gotten the role of the notorious Sheriff. And just like that, your second villain role was once again a success.

But nothing could have prepared us for your breathtaking appearance in the Harry Potterseries. For our generation it was without a doubt the best acting role of your entire career, because without you the series would be forever incomplete. No other actor could have been able to pull off the role of Severus Snape quite like you did. When the Sorcerer's Stone premiered back in 2001, we knew you simply as Severus Snape: Hogwarts' darkest and most stern professor. Back then only the first three of the seven-book series had been released, so at first we only saw you as a grouchy professor who always seemed like he was up to no good. But as the series progressed, we began to see an unusual pattern. Although you were intimidating, you were always there. You rescued Harry from broom-bewitching professors and ruthless dementors. You lit the way for Harry to find the sword of Godrick Gryffindor. But most of all, you kept your promise to your beloved Lily Potter. We were all dumbfounded as we looked into your memories with Harry in the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 to discover that even though you portrayed yourself to be the villain on more than one occasion, you were silently watching over those you loved the entire time. You not only watched out for Lily's child, but you also protected his loved ones as well. While many of us were cruel to pass judgment on you in the beginning, you were everyone's guardian angel, silently watching from the shadows the entire time.

So for that, we thank you. We thank you for portraying characters that captured our hearts unlike any other. We thank you for living a warm, generous life that few people knew you lived. We thank you for being Hans Gruber, Severus Snape and the Sheriff of Nottingham. But most of all, we thank you for being you and gracing our lives with your unfathomable abundance of talent. And we're sorry that as a fan base we failed to cherish you as much as we should have while you were with us. The world lost a beloved actor and an inspirational man that will forever remain irreplaceable. With that, we say one of the hardest goodbyes we've ever had to say to any actor.

After all this time?