Ray Stevenson, an actor from Northern Ireland who was known for his parts in the “Thor” movies, the “Star Wars” movies, “RRR,” and the TV show “Rome,” has died at age 58.
Brett Norensberg, who worked for him, said that he died in Italy on Sunday, but he didn’t say anything else. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica said that he was taken to the hospital while filming “Cassino in Ischia” in Italy, and he died soon after. According to Deadline, Frank Ciota directed the movie, in which Mr. Stevenson played a former action movie star who is trying to get his career back on track.
Mr. Stevenson was often in movies and TV shows that took place in rougher, more violent times and places. He played a knight of the Round Table who fought as hard as he drank in “King Arthur”; a powerful politician in a dystopian future in the Divergent movies; a heavily bearded, ax-wielding warrior in the Thor series; an 18th-century pirate on TV in “Black Sails”; and a villain in the upcoming Star Wars show “Ahsoka.”
In its review of “Rome,” The Post said that Mr. Stevenson brought “much-needed color and zest” to his part as the “very physical and lusty” Titus Pullo.
The Emmy-winning series, which took place in the 1st century B.C. and aired from 2005 to 2007, had Mr. Stevenson as one of its two main characters.
He was 56 years old when we were shooting this difficult scene but he did not hesitate while performing this stunt.
We will forever cherish having you on the sets of #RRR, Ray Stevenson.
Gone too soon 💔 pic.twitter.com/LdzecSIO2H
— RRR Movie (@RRRMovie) May 23, 2023
The Post said that he was “exuberantly menacing” in the 2011 movie “Kill the Irishman,” which was otherwise not very interesting.
With “RRR” (2022), one of the most expensive Indian movies ever made and a big hit with crowds, he moved into South Asian movies. Scott Buxton, a ruler of the British Raj who kidnaps a child, was played by Mr. Stevenson.
“Ahsoka,” a show on Disney Plus, has already finished shooting and will start airing in August. He also did the role of a bad guy in two animated Star Wars shows, “Star Wars: Rebels” and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”
A statement on LucasFilm’s StarWars.com site said, “We were lucky to have Ray join the Star Wars galaxy as Gar Saxon in Star Wars Rebels and then more recently as Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka.” “It shows how talented he is that he can play a bad guy even though he is a kind and caring person in real life.”
Mr. Stevenson first studied architecture, but then he turned to acting and went to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School to learn how to do it well.
“Punisher: War Zone,” “The Other Guys,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Vikings,” and “Dexter” are among the other movies he has worked on. The Associated Press said that he has three kids with the Italian anthropologist Elisabetta Caraccia.
