FILE - Irish born actor Ray Stevenson poses for a photo in New York on March 7, 2011. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior the ‘Thor’ films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share.
FILE - Ray Stevenson arrives at the world premiere of "Thor: Ragnarok" in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2017. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior the ‘Thor’ films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share.
FILE - Cast member Ray Stevenson arrives at the premiere of "The Book of Eli" in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2010. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior the ‘Thor’ films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share.
FILE - Ray Stevenson participates in the panel for "Black Sails" at the Starz 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2016. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior the ‘Thor’ films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share. Stevenson portrayed pirate Blackbeard in the Starz series.
Irish actor Ray Stevenson, of 'Rome' and 'Thor' movies, dies at 58
Ray Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villainous British governor in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior in the “Thor” films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died
FILE - Irish born actor Ray Stevenson poses for a photo in New York on March 7, 2011. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior the ‘Thor’ films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share.
Bebeto Matthews - staff, AP
FILE - Ray Stevenson arrives at the world premiere of "Thor: Ragnarok" in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2017. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior the ‘Thor’ films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share.
Chris Pizzello - invision linkable, Invision
FILE - Cast member Ray Stevenson arrives at the premiere of "The Book of Eli" in Los Angeles on Jan. 11, 2010. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior the ‘Thor’ films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share.
Matt Sayles - staff, AP
FILE - Ray Stevenson participates in the panel for "Black Sails" at the Starz 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2016. Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villain in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior the ‘Thor’ films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58. Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press he died Sunday, May 21, 2023, but had no other details to share. Stevenson portrayed pirate Blackbeard in the Starz series.
Ray Stevenson, the Irish actor who played the villainous British governor in “RRR,” an Asgardian warrior in the “Thor” films, and a member of the 13th Legion in HBO’s “Rome,” has died. He was 58.
Representatives for Stevenson told The Associated Press that he died Sunday but had no other details to share on Monday.
Stevenson was born in Lisburn in 1964. After attending the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and years of working in British television, he made his film debut in Paul Greengrass’s 1998 film “The Theory of Flight.” In 2004, he appeared in Antoine Fuqua’s “King Arthur” as a knight of the round table and several years later played the lead in the pre-Disney Marvel adaptation “Punisher: War Zone."
Though “Punisher” was not the best-reviewed film, he'd get another taste of Marvel in the first three "Thor” films, in which he played Volstagg. Other prominent film roles included the “Divergent” trilogy, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and “The Transporter: Refueled.”
A looming presence at 6-foot-4, Stevenson, who played his share of soldiers past and present, once said in an interview, “I guess I'm an old warrior at heart.”
On the small screen, he was the roguish Titus Pullo in “Rome,” a role that really got his career going in the United States and got him a SAG card, at the age of 44. The popular series ran 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.”
In the Variety review of “Rome,” Brian Lowery wrote that “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 was Blackbeard in the Starz series “Black Sails," Commander Jack Swinburne in the German television series “Das Boot," and Othere on “Vikings.”
Stevenson also did voice work in “Star Wars Rebels” and “The Clone Wars,” as Gar Saxon, and has a role in the upcoming Star Wars live-action series “Ahsoka," in which he plays a bad guy, Baylan Skoll. The eight-episode season is expected on Disney+ in August.
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.”
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Post a comment as Anonymous Commenter
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.