Northern Irish actor Ray Stevenson, best known for his roles in the King Arthur and Punisher films, has died at the age of 58.
The talented actor, who starred in the upcoming Ahsoka series, passed away on Sunday, his publicist confirmed.
The Lisburn-born actor died just four days before his 59th birthday. No other details of his death have yet been released.
Read more: Star of Oscar-winning NI movie to be honoured by university
While he originally pursued a career in interior design, he enrolled in the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and began his professional acting career after graduating at 29.
Stevenson began his acting career appearing on TV shows in the 1990s before landing action roles in Hollywood films.
His first major film role came in Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 adventure movie King Arthur, where he played Dagonet, one of the Knights of the Round Table.
Stevenson also starred in multiple television shows including as soldier Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO series Rome from 2005-2007, as well as a spin-off series for the Star Wars franchise.
A year after the series ended, he was on-screen in Punisher: War Zone (2008) as Marvel anti-hero Frank Castle.
Stevenson then returned 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 starred as Porthos in the 2011 film The Three Musketeers, alongside Luke Evans, Matthew Macfadyen and Milla Jovovich, and was in Divergent with Kate Winslet and Zoe Kravitz in 2014.
Stevenson was also one of the main antagonists in the upcoming Star Wars series Ahsoka.
The Peter Mayhew Foundation, set up by the actor who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars films, tweeted: “We are sad to hear of the passing of Ray Stevenson.
“You may recognize Ray as Baylon Skoll from the upcoming Ahsoka show on Disney+. You may also remember his work as the voice of mandalorian super commando Gar Saxon in The Clone Wars. Our sincerest condolences to his family.”
His other notable credits include parts in Dexter, Black Sails, and Medici, as well as The Spanish Princess and Vikings.
He also was a part of the RRR cast, playing Scott Buxton in the buzzy, award-winning action drama.
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).
The pair divorced in 2005 after eight years of marriage.
READ NEXT:
BBC on why Derry Girls star’s political comments edited out of BAFTA speech
TV and YouTube comic bringing hit 'interdimensional' stand-up show to NI
Michael Fassbender spotted on set of film about Belfast rap artists
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
