Ray Stevenson

George Raymond "Ray" Stevenson (born 25 May 1964) is an Irish-British film and television actor. He is known for playing Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO television series Rome (2005–2007), and in film as Dagonet in King Arthur (2004) and as Frank Castle/The Punisher in Punisher: War Zone (2008) and The Super Hero Squad Show. Stevenson appeared as Volstagg in Thor and Thor: The Dark World, based on the Marvel Comics character and as Cleveland mobster Danny Greene in Kill the Irishman. In 2012 he appeared in the seventh season of Dexter as Isaak Sirko. Early life Stevenson was born in Lisburn, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the second of three sons of a Royal Air Force pilot father and an Irish mother. He moved with his family to Lemington, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in 1972, at the age of eight, and later to Cramlington, Northumberland, where he was brought up. Stevenson attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating at the age of 29. Career Film Stevenson has starred in several feature films, primarily in supporting roles. He made his debut in The Theory of Flight (1998) with Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter, where he played the part of agigolo hired to help Bonham Carter's character to lose her virginity. In 2002, Stevenson starred in a short film No Man's Land, which was the antipodal picture from actor/director Edward Hicks prior to his graduation from the London Film School. In the 12½ minute film, set during World War I, Stevenson portrayed an experienced Private who is forced to help a novice Officer (David Birkin), back to safety after they both find themselves trapped and isolated in "No Man's Land" during the Battle of Ypres. In 2004, Stevenson starred alongside Clive Owen and Keira Knightley in King Arthur. He portrayed Dagonet, a knight of the round table who sacrifices his life for his comrades. Stevenson's first leading role in a film was in the Scottish horror picture Outpost (2008), portraying a mercenary pitted against Nazi zombies in a bunker somewhere in Eastern Europe. That same year, he also starred in Punisher: War Zone, as Frank Castle, "The Punisher," a former Marine turned vigilante after the murder of his family. In 2010, Stevenson played the primary antagonist in the comedy The Other Guys, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell. In 2011, Stevenson appeared in the film Kill the Irishman, based on the book To Kill the Irishman, as Danny Greene, an Irish American mobster who took on the Italian mob in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1970s. He worked with Kenneth Branagh again, this time as a director, in the adaptation of Marvel Comics' Thor, starring in the role of Volstagg, one of Thor's trusted comrades. Also that year, he played Porthos in Paul W.S. Anderson's adaptation of The Three Musketeers. On 8 July 2011, Stevenson was cast as Firefly in G.I. Joe: Retaliation (which was released in 2013). Television He is perhaps best known for playing the character of legionary Titus Pullo in the BBC/HBO television series Rome. He shares the lead starring role in the series with Kevin McKidd. Personal life Stevenson was married in Westminster, London, in 1997, to actress Ruth Gemmell, whom he met when they worked together on the TV drama Band of Gold (1995). They later played a husband and wife on screen in Peak Practice (1997). The couple divorced after eight years of marriage. His current girlfriend is Italian anthropologist Elisabetta Caraccia, whom he met while filming Rome. The couple have two sons: Sebastiano Derek Stevenson, born on 24 December 2007, and Leonardo George Stevenson, born on 11 April 2011.