A very sad day today as actor Ray Stevenson has passed away at the age of 58. Stevenson was mainly known from his role as Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone, Volstagg in Marvel’s Thor movies, and most recently in Tollywood blockbuster RRR.
Stevenson was born in 1964 in Lisburn. The British actor had his breakout film role opposite Helena Bonham Carter in 1998’s The Theory of Flight. His next big feature role would come in 2004 when he played Sir Dagonet in Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur. A major series part in HBO’s Rome series would follow, playing Titus Pullo for the entirety of its run. But Stevenson’s career would take a turn when he played Frank Castle in Lexi Alexander’s brutal Marvel actioner Punisher: War Zone.
Other blockbuster films followed for Stevenson; GI Joe: Retaliation in which he played Firefly, he appeared in all of the Divergent movies, and played Volstagg of the Warriors Three in every Thor movie. Most recently, Stevenson played the villainous colonizer Governor Buxton in RRR, one of the biggest films of 2022.
Stevenson was in Italy shooting Cassino in Ischia at the time of his passing. His final TV appearance will be that of Baylan Skoll, a former Jedi in the upcoming Star Wars series, Ahsoka.
We here at Punch Drunk Critics send our condolences to Stevenson’s friends and family for their loss.
