Ray Stevenson — 1964-2023

No. Fucking. Way.

Goddammit.

He was 58, for fuck’s sake.

Ray Stevenson, ‘RRR’ and ‘Thor’ actor, dead at 58 | CNN

The era of Prestige TV began on HBO, but not just with The Wire and Deadwood… Rome was right there with them. It brought the fall of The Republic and the rise of The Empire to life in a way I’d never seen, and I loved it just as much as it’s artier, more cerebral cousins.

Ray Stevenson’s Titus Pullo —an historical entity briefly mentioned in one of Julius Caesar’s writings, expanded by the writers into a complex character who was by turns terrifying and hilarious— was the beating heart of the show. He and Kevin McKidd’s Lucius Vorenus were the plebeians who gave texture and context to the grand doings of the senators and equestrians, making those dry tales of antiquity feel grounded in the present.

We’ll get to see him one last time in Disney+’s Ahsoka, but until then: THIRTEEN, motherfucker.