Ray Stevenson

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Date of Birth : May 24th 1964

Stevenson finished filming ”Punisher: War Zone” in December 2007. He stars as Frank Castle a.k.a. the Punisher, a former soldier turned vigilante. The movie is scheduled for a December 2008 release. His first lead role in a movie was in Scottish horror film “Outpost” (2008), where he portrayed a mercenary facing Nazi zombies in a bunker system somewhere in Eastern Europe. The movie was generally well received.

Stevenson has also starred in other films, primarily in supporting roles, like the part of Dagonet, the knight who sacrifices his life for his comrades in ”King Arthur” in 2004. His first big screen movie role was in ”The Theory of Flight” (1998) with Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter, where he played the part of a gigolo hired to help the character played by Bonham Carter to lose her virginity.

In 2002 Stevenson also starred in a short film “No Man’s Land” which was the graduation movie of actor/director Edward Hicks from the London Film School.

In the 12.5 minute film, set during the First World War, Stevenson played an experienced Private who is force to help a novice Officer, (David Birkin), back to safety after both find themselves trapped and isolated in No Man’s Land during the battle of Ypres.

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.

His portrayal of Pullo’s fierce and loyal character and the character’s development and adaptation to the changing circumstances of life and history has won both critical and public acclaim.

His other TV-work includes guest appearances in popular TV series like ”Waking the Dead” and ”Murphy’s Law” as well as lead roles in ”City Central” and ”At Home with the Braithwaites”. He has also appeared in several TV movies such as ”Some Kind of Life” in 1995, in which he co-starred with Jane Horrocks, and ”The Return of the Native”, which also featured Catherine Zeta Jones. Some of his earliest parts were in two Catherine Cookson movies: ”The Dwelling Place” (1994) and ”The Tide of Life” (1996).

His stage work includes playing the part of Christ in the York Mystery Plays in 2000 at York Minster. In 2001 he took the part of Roger in the play ”Mouth to Mouth” by Kevin Elyot, at the Albery Theatre in London with Lindsay Duncan and Michael Maloney. His most well-known part is perhaps that of the Cardinal in ”The Duchess of Malfi” by John Webster with Janet McTeer at the Royal National Theatre in 2003.

Stevenson was married in [[1997]] to actress Ruth Gemmell, whom he met when they worked together on the TV drama ”Band of Gold (TV series)” (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 a son, Sebastiano Derek Stevenson, born on Dec 24, 2007.

His love of art and his capabilities as an artist were demonstrated when he participated in the television programme ”Watercolour Challenge” in 2001, where he together with actors Cherie Lunghi and Malcolm Tierney painted watercolours of Blenheim Palace.