Ray Stevenson, the Irish actor most known for his roles as the wicked British governor in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior in the “Thor” movie, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58.
Stevenson’s representatives told The Associated Press that he died on Sunday but had no additional facts to give on Monday.
Stevenson was born in 1964 in Lisburn. After completing the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and working in British television for several years, he made his film debut in Paul Greengrass’ 1998 feature “The Theory of Flight.” In 2004, he played a knight of the round table in Antoine Fuqua’s “King Arthur,” he later played the protagonist in the pre-Disney Marvel adaptation “Punisher: War Zone.”
Though “Punisher” received mixed reviews, he’d get another taste of Marvel in the first three “Thor” films when he played Volstagg. Other notable film roles include “Divergent,” “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” and “The Transporter: Refuelled.”
Stevenson, a 6-foot-4 imposing presence who has portrayed his share of soldiers past and present, once stated in an interview, “I guess I’m an old warrior at heart.”
On television, he played the roguish Titus Pullo in “Rome,” a role that launched his career in the United States and earned him a SAG card at 44. The popular series aired between 2005 and 2007.
Representatives told The Associated Press that he died on Sunday but had no additional facts to give on Monday.
“That was one of the major years of my life,” Stevenson recalled in an interview. “It forced me to sit in my own skin and say, just do the job.” “The job is sufficient.”
According to Brian Lowery’s Variety review of “Rome,” “the imposing Stevenson certainly stands out as a brawling, whoring, and none-too-bright warrior — a force of nature who, despite his excesses, somehow keeps landing on his feet.”
He played Blackbeard in Starz’s “Black Sails,” Commander Jack Swinburne in Germany’s “Das Boot,” and Othere in “Vikings.”
Stevenson also appeared as Gar Saxon in “Star Wars Rebels” and “The Clone Wars,” and will play Baylan Skoll in the upcoming Star Wars live-action series “Ahsoka.” The eight-episode season is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in August.
Stevenson told Backstage in 2020 that his acting idols were “the likes of Lee Marvin (and) Gene Hackman.”
“Never a bad performance, and brave and fearless within that calibre,” observed Stevenson. “It was never the young, hot leading man; it was men who I could identify with.”
Stevenson has three boys with Elisabetta Caraccia, an Italian anthropologist whom he met while working on “Rome.”
SOURCE – (AP)
