Ray Stevenson, who portrayed an evil British governor in RRR, an Asgardian warrior in the Thor movie, and a soldier of the 13th Legion in HBO’s Rome, has passed away. He was 58. Stevenson’s representatives informed The Associated Press that he passed away on Sunday, but they had no other information to provide as of Monday.
In 1964, Stevenson was conceived in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. After years of working in British television and attending the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he made his feature film debut in Paul Greengrass’ 1998 film The Theory of Flight. He played a knight of the round table in Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur in 2004 and the major role in Punisher: War Zone, a Marvel movie that came out before the Disney version.
Even though Punisher did not receive the finest reviews, he would return to Marvel in the first three Thor films, where he played Volstagg. The Divergent trilogy, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and The Transporter: Refuelled were among other notable films in which they appeared.
Stevenson, a 6-foot-4 imposing appearance who has portrayed a number of soldiers from both the past and the present, once said in an interview, “I guess I’m an old warrior at heart.”
He played the roguish Titus Pullo in Rome on television, which at the age of 44 helped launch his career in the US and earned him a SAG card. The well-liked programme aired from 2005 to 2007.
“That was one of the major years of my life,” Stevenson said in an interview. “It made me sit down in my own skin and say, just do the job. The job’s enough.”
According to Brian Lowery’s review of Rome in Variety, “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 the Starz television series Black Sails, Commander Jack Swinburne in the German drama Das Boot, and Othere in the television series “Vikings.”
Stevenson has previously voiced characters in Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars under the name Gar Saxon. He also has a role in the upcoming live-action Star Wars series Ahsoka as the villain Baylan Skoll. August is when the eight-episode season is anticipated on Disney+.
In an interview with Backstage in 2020, Stevenson said his acting idols were, “The likes of Lee Marvin (and) Gene Hackman.”
“Never a bad performance, and brave and fearless within that caliber,” Stevenson said. “It was never the young, hot leading man; it was men who I could identify with.” Stevenson has three sons with Italian anthropologist Elisabetta Caraccia, who he met while working on Rome.
