Ray Stevenson

George Raymond Stevenson was born in Lisburn in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on 25 May 1964, the second of three sons. His father was a Royal Air Force pilot. He moved to England with his family at the age of eight, first settling in the Lemington area of Newcastle upon Tyne and later in Seaton Delaval. He attended a design course at Bath Lane College (Newcastle upon Tyne), then the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating at the age of 29. ==Career==

Film Stevenson made his film debut in The Theory of Flight (1998) as a gigolo hired to help Helena Bonham Carter's character lose her virginity. In 2014, he starred in the film Divergent, based on the first book of The Divergent Series. He reprised his role in the sequels, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, released in March 2015, and The Divergent Series: Allegiant, released in March 2016. Television Stevenson played legionary Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO series Rome. His other television work included guest appearances in Waking the Dead, ''Murphy's Law and lead roles in City Central and At Home with the Braithwaites. Stevenson also appeared in Season 6 of the series Vikings as Othere, which ran from 2013 to 2020. He also appeared in Season 3 of the series Das Boot'' as Commander Jack Swinburne in 2022. At Star Wars Celebration 2023, Stevenson was announced as playing the Dark Jedi Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka, a miniseries debuting on Disney+. In an interview on Stevenson's part, showrunner Dave Filoni noted that when he was told to play Skoll as a villain, "[Stevenson] was like, 'I don't think so.' I'm like, 'Okay, I appreciate that you don't think so, and Baylan wouldn't think he's the villain, but you are a villain in this.' And he's like, 'We'll see.' It was perfect." Stevenson also offered input on the design of his character's lightsaber hilt. Stevenson's performance in Ahsoka also received considerable praise from critics. Metro described his work as "one of the highlights of the entire Star Wars series", while Collider described Stevenson as having "an inescapable gravitas" and that he "gave a masterclass in character building". ==Personal life==

In 1997, Stevenson married English actress Ruth Gemmell in London; they had met on the set of Band of Gold (1995), and later played a married couple in Peak Practice (1997). They divorced in 2005 after eight years of marriage. Stevenson remarried an Italian anthropologist, Elisabetta Caraccia, and had three sons. ==Death==

On 21 May 2023, Stevenson died at the age of 58, four days shy of his 59th birthday. Although his cause of death is unknown, he was reportedly hospitalised while working on an action movie Cassino in Ischia at the island of Ischia in Campania, Italy. Stevenson's co-stars, including Rosario Dawson, Scott Adkins, and James Purefoy, paid tribute. The first episode of Ahsoka, released on 22 August 2023, just over three months after Stevenson's death, includes a dedication to him, "For our friend, Ray". Ivanna Sakhno, who played Shin Hati, Stevenson's screen apprentice in Ahsoka, wrote in commemoration that she would be "forever his Wolf", in tribute to their characters being named after the two wargs who pursued the moon and sun in Norse mythology. Stevenson is succeeded in the role of Skoll by Rory McCann in Ahsoka's second season. McCann was a good friend of Stevenson. The film Canary Black (2024), which features Stevenson, is also dedicated to him. == Filmography ==

Film Television Stage ==References==