R.I.P. Ray Stevenson, Thor and RRR star
Ray Stevenson, the Irish actor known for his role in the Thor franchise, died at age 58
Aux News Ray Stevenson
Ray Stevenson, the Irish actor known for roles in the Thor franchise and recently the Bollywood smash hit RRR, has died at age 58. According to a report from Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Stevenson was hospitalized in Ischia while in production on the film Cassino On Ischia. A representative for the actor confirmed his passing just four days before his birthday, though no further details were made available, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Stevenson had a prolific career that included high-profile television projects like Rome (in which he played Titus Pullo), Black Sails (playing Blackbeard), and a stint on Dexter (as Isaak Sirko). He also appeared in major franchise films like the Divergent series and portrayed Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone, later double dipping in the Marvel pool by playing Volstagg in the Thor series. Other memorable roles include projects such as The Other Guys, The Three Musketeers, and The Book Of Eli, among many others. He’ll soon appear as Baylan Skoll on the Disney+ Star Wars series Ahsoka.
Acting was “something I’d always dreamed about, and I’d always wanted to do it, but it didn’t seem at all possible or approachable,” Stevenson told The A.V. Club in 2015. “But the desire to get involved in this profession, and try to find out more about it, just wouldn’t leave me. So eventually, I was 25, I think, when I started going to an evening school, a bona fide theater school, and did two nights a week. And after two weeks it terrified me, so I knew I wasn’t going to have a choice. This wasn’t a decision. I had to take a leap and see what would be of it.” He “was always drawn to movies” and dreamed of having a career onscreen; after finishing theater school, “I went straight in to work, and it’s been a tremendous ride ever since,” he said.
Stevenson is survived by his three children Sebastiano, Leonardo and Lodovico with partner Elisabetta Caraccia, per THR. R.I.P.
59 Comments
If you haven’t seen Rome or Black Sails, you should watch them immediately. 58 is too young. He’ll be missed. Also, whatever your feelings are about War Zone as a film, Ray was born to play Frank Castle.
Nooooo not Titus Pullo! One of the most entertaining characters from a super underrated show. He was also a fantastic Blackbeard, honestly one of the better renditions I’ve seen. Fare thee well sir I’m sorry to see you go at only 58.
Moved and seconded. I was always delighted to see him in any cast, and the two roles you highlighted were my favorites as well. 58 is far too young to lose such a fantastic talent.
Thank you! I know they can’t mention everything in these, but I loved Rome.
13! 13!
He’s in Elysium now, drowning in wine and cunny.
THIRTEENTH!!!!!!!Damnit, RIP to a real one.
Indeed! My first thought was “oh no! Titus Pullo died?” Incredible actor. R.I.P.
Name him properly. It’s Titus Fucking Pullo.Off to rewatch Rome…
Same. Well I’m gonna do nothing all week in his honor watching an amazing show.
I am deeply embarrassed to admit that I somehow never realized that Ray Stevenson was Titus Pullo. It’s because I’m apparently an idiot but I’m going to make up some bullshit rationalization to make myself feel better. Titus Pullo is such a great character that I bought in so hard I didn’t notice who actually played him. Now that I have sufficiently deluded myself I can talk about what I really want to talk aboutPunisher Warzone of all things was one of the best theatre going experiences I’ve ever had. Part of it is that my best friend and I had just started smoking weed. Part of it is that Warzone is actually a pretty fun movie. It’s stupid and would have been better as a hard R but still fun. The real reason though was another audience member in the theatre with us. We took our seats and directly in front of us was this tiny old woman in a wheelchair and she was on her own. We started joking about how she accidently bought the wrong ticket and was going to drop dead of a heart attack during the action scenes. Punisher Grandma decidedly did not drop dead. She was sooooooo into the movie. Whenever Punisher killed someone she would erupt into a full blown evil cackle. Just loved every minute of the movie. The best was when that one guy gets his face punched in. That happens and this sweet looking lady goes “Serves you right you little weasel faced prick!” The parkour scene was also really great. She almost did die from laughter when the guys gets blown up mid flip. We went and talked to her after the movie. She’d been a movie buff since she was teenager in the 30s. She got really in to violent movies because of the 1967 Bonnie and Clyde adaptation. She was really fun. Definitely dead now unfortunately.Anyway. Thanks Ray Stevenson for doing your part to make that chance encounter the beautiful thing it was. I’ll miss ya.
That is indeed the most awesome film experience. What a lady!
He owned every scene he was in on Rome, and it still bothers me that the show wasn’t more successful and more scene. Titus Pullo was the anti-heroes hero and just an icon.
Man, I loved his character on Rome, and I absolutely loved the final scene with Titus Pullo and his son.
Best Punisher by 18 country miles.
God, this guy was exceptional at any tone, so I loved every role he’s ever played. He absolutely elevated weak material and soared in some of my favorite projects. (And his absolutely unhinged role in RRR is a revelation of pure camp — dude understood the assignment.)
So unfortunate, RIP
Huge loss. I don’t know that he’s known for his relatively small role in 3/4 Thor movies though. The MCU really wasted him on that role.
And he got bumped off with, as they say, zero fucks given – they hardly even needed to bring in the same actor. Seems like The Last Jedi soaked up all the outrage over stuff like this (oh no, not Admiral Ackbar!).
For all the praise that movie got, I for one was seriously miffed at how they addressed the deaths of the Warriors Three. And then in Endgame they even had Thor refer to Heimdall as his best friend when…. they were like friendly acquaintances but the Warriors Three were his best friends
His media obits keeps citing Thor as what he’s known for, which makes me think they don’t really know who he was. I think people who know him from Rome, Dexter, Kill the Irishman, Punisher WZ, etc, would be surprised that he was in the Thor films since he’s hidden under 175 lbs of beard.
“There are 3 things I love in this world: Kylie Minogue, the dimples just above a woman’s buttocks, and the fear in a man’s eye when he knows I’m about to hurt him.”Dammit, 58 is too young.
One of my all time favorite comedies. He was so good in that role.
Titus Pullo has an underrated case to be the greatest TV character of all timeI need to rewatch Rome again
I had the pleasure of demoing some VR equipment and experiences for him in ‘18. Such a nice guy, he was huge on just enjoying life and said his main philosophy was to have fun experiencing new things. Also really cool he wore his legionnaire ring. RIP
“the greatest TV character of all time”Shit like this is why I love you.
Well, he is evil.
I feel like Rome had the bad luck of airing during The Wire/Sopranos/Deadwood years, when HBO had a glut of quality and not being obviously among the top 10-15 shows ever made meant you were a disappointment. If Rome had aired on Showtime, it would’ve run 11 seasons and they’d still be doing retrospectives and revivals of it.
It got canceled because it was too expensive, right?
Absolutely, and Ray Stevenson was a standout in a cast of amazing performances, Atia, Young Octavian, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Mark Atony…all made their mark. But Titus Pullo was the heart of that show.
Romes problem was it was so damn expensive to make. After it was done a bunch of other productions used the sets. The David Tenant Rome episode of Doctor Who was shot on them
I remember that was the reason given and definitely was a factor, but on the other hand, it’s not like the high price tag was a secret going in. They just needed it to be the buzziest show on the network, or at least a strong second, to justify that cost. And at almost any other network, and/or at almost any other time, it probably could’ve been. Instead, it was up against three of the all time greats, two of which are routinely named as the best thing the medium has ever produced, so it was maybe fourth.
Game of Thrones did the “expensive intrigue and sword fighting” thing five years later, but got to debut against True Blood and Luck instead. Obviously impossible to prove, but I think you could make a not-crazy case that the two shows’ fates would have been swapped if their premiere dates had been flipped. Certainly Stevenson (and the rest of the cast) aren’t lacking for much against the GoT cast.
I rewatched Game of Thrones last year and you can tell any time they went from a real location to a set. The first few years looked a lot cheaper then Rome did
It was a money issue. Some HBO exec said the problem was that it wasn’t doing gangbusters lke the Sopranos did while being much more expensive to produce than The Wire and back then they still didn’t know the Sopranos are more of an anomaly. It’s the same reason why they cancelled Carnivale and said they regret both decisions – they admitted that nowadays they would’ve just told them to cut 6 seasons into 4 just so they could ride that story out to the end because it’s shit like this that brings critical acclaim and eyeballs to their subscription.
I recall a new exec took over HBO in between season 1 and 2 of Rome, and was eager to cancel shows that were the previous regime’s babies. Rome’s high cost (even though it was a co-production with BBC) was cause for it to get the axe, but also the cause for it to get one more season to wrap things up (unlike Deadwood which just got the axe).
I thought HBO has always said the show did well ratings wise but was still so expensive to make at the time that it was nearly impossible for them to make it profitable in DVD sales unlike shows like The Sopranos. So I am not sure the time slot matter.
Aw, man. This is sad. Every time he showed up in something, I knew I was going to enjoy it more.
Thirteen! Thirteen! Thirteen!
While the seventh season of Dexter was not one of its better ones, the first three-quarters where Ray Stevenson was the main antagonist was a darn near return to form compared to the abysmal sixth season. Steven brought his trademark menace, but also depth and vulnerability, to a very different sort of killer than Dexter usually faced. And once he left the show, it took a big nosedive.
58 is young for fatal medical issues to crop up, so I hope he died doing something awesome.
He was one of the shining spots in S7, for certain.
Indeed. I think it’s my only familiarity with him, but it left one heck of an impression.
Last known sighting:
and a stint on Dexter (as Isaak Sirko)While I’m a big fan of Thor, Rome and The Other Guys, this is my personal favourite performance of his. A rare bright spot in the otherwise downward spiral of Dexter’s later seasons.
A truly great character actor. Always giving more juice to his roles than needed. His arc on Dexter only works because he’s the actor.
So the first movie that came to mind was The Other Guys. RIP my dude.
A Man who could be terrifying and charismatic in the same scene. Loved his Blackbeard. RIP
13th!
Damn, that’s horrible. So young. Been a huge fan ever since Rome.
Oh man. I had SUCH a crush on him after seeing him on Dexter. So young, what a shame. He was talented.
also hilarious in The Other Guys. Memento Mori.
horrible. may he rest in peace.
A great actor. Always exceed the role that’s given however small that role is. So, Baylan Skoll definitely not survive the first season of Ahsoka.
Man, between this and Lance Reddick, it’s been a bad year for tall, imposing, surprisingly charismatic character actors.
This is a kick in the guts. I loved ‘Rome’, and Stevenson (particularly his great dynamic with Kevin McKidd) was a huge part of that. Vale, sir. You’ll be missed.
Fr one last time god’s sake…RRR is not from Bollywood…its from TOLLYWOOD…pleaseeeeee
Fuuuuucccckkkkk. This is awful. He was such an underrated actor, in that I think he got taken for granted to pop up in a movie and do a good job. He was my favourite Punisher; the making-of stuff for War Zone showed him going all-in on the training.
Who dis bitch?