Ray Stevenson, a veteran character actor best known for his roles in the “Thor” film franchise, “RRR” and the upcoming “Ahsoka” series, died Sunday at 58.
His publicist Nicki Fioravante confirmed the actor’s death, four days before his birthday, to USA TODAY in an email Monday. No additional details were shared about his death.
His career in kicked off in the 1990s with television appearances before he made his film debut in Paul Greengrass’ 1998 film “The Theory of Flight.” Stevenson is known for his role as Dagonet, one of the knights of the round table, in Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 adventure film “King Arthur,” which brought him acclaim on an international scale. He landed a leading role in Marvel’s 2008 “Punisher: War Zone,” released months after his first leading role in the horror film “Outpost.”
Aside from the first three “Thor” films, in which he played Volstagg, his other prominent film roles included as Marcus Eaton in the “Divergent” trilogy, Cobra Demolitions expert Firefly in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and as retired secret agent Frank Martin Sr. in “The Transporter: Refueled.” Stevenson played Gov. Scott Buxton in 2022’s critically acclaimed “RRR.”
On the small screen, his role as Titus Pullo in “Rome” sparked his career in the United States, earning him a Screen Actors Guild card at the age of 44. He was also Blackbeard in the Starz series “Black Sails” and Commander Jack Swinburne in the 2022 German television series “Das Boot.”
Stevenson did voice work in “Star Wars Rebels” and “The Clone Wars” as Gar Saxon, and had a role in the upcoming Star Wars limited series “Ahsoka.”
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 projects set to come out soon, including “Cassino in Ischia,” “Gateway to the West” and the upcoming Disney+ limited series “Ahsoka.”
Stevenson was born on a British army base in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on May 25, 1964, according to IMDb. He moved with his family to the United Kingdom when he was 8 years old and later went to Cramlington, Northumberland, where he spent the majority of his childhood, according to IMDb.
The actor married Ruth Gemmel in 1997 before the couple split in 2005. He is survived by two children, Sebastiano Derek Stevenson and Leonardo George Stevenson, whom he shared with partner Elisabetta Caraccia.
Contributing: The Associated Press
