Ray Stevenson as Scott Buxton in RRR (left) and as Titus Pullo in the series Rome. (Photos: Twitter)
British actor Ray Stevenson, who starred as Volstagg in the Thor movies and as the brutally evil governor in the global hit RRR, has died. He was 58. The actor passed away on Sunday, four days before his birthday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported he had been hospitalized on the island of Ischia while in production on the film Cassino on Ischia, directed by Frank Ciota. No other details of his death were immediately available.
Stevenson began his career appearing on TV shows in the 1990s then began landing action roles in Hollywood films starting in the 2000s. His first major film role cam in Antoine Fuqua's 2004s adventure movie King Arthur, where he played Dagonet, one of the Knights of the Round Table.
One of his popular roles was that of the charming soldier Titus Pullo on the big-budget 2005-07 HBO series Rome. A year after that series ended, he was cast in Punisher: War Zone (2008) as Marvel anti-hero Frank Castle, and he would return to the Marvel well several more times with small roles in Thor (2011) as Volstagg, a member of Thor's pals known as the Warriors Three. He last played the part in Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
He played Scott Buxton in RRR (2022), the SS Rajamouli directorial starring NTR Jr and Ram Charan that became a global sensation and also won an Oscar this year for the song Naatu Naatu. Fans of the film in India have been sharing their condolences on social media.
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Stevenson is one of the main antagonists in the upcoming Star Wars series Ahsoka. He was a regular supporting player in multiple franchises, popping up in G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) as the classic toy character Firefly and in Divergent (2014) and its two sequels, The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015) and The Divergent Series: Allegient (2016) as Marcus Eaton.
Also read: Ram Charan at G20 meet: Coming to Kashmir during summer holidays used to feel like an achievement
