Beloved character actor Ray Stevenson, who dominated the screen with his role in the hit television series Rome and appeared throughout the Thor franchise among so many other projects, has died at the age of 58. It’s especially shocking to learn after he just made a spirited appearance during Star Wars Celebration earlier this year. His cause of death is currently unknown.

Since the early 90s, Stevenson has been a fixture on movie screens starting with A Woman’s Guide to Adultery before making his first big impression with The Theory of Flight starring Helena Bonham Carter. Although he made a name for himself on the big screen, it’s on the small screen where he made arguably his biggest impression by playing Titus Pollo throughout the entire run of HBO and BBC‘s Rome. The underrated series followed his life as a common soldier living in the Roman Empire alongside another soldier named Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) with whom his life was intertwined. His television career was quite fruitful, including plenty of appearances on animated Star Wars series as Gar Saxon as well as spots on The Walking Dead and many more.

In theaters, however, he lit up the screen with cult classics and blockbusters alike from Punisher: War Zone to 2011’s The Three Musketeers and Kill the Irishman. More recently, MCU fans would be familiar with the character actor for his recurring role as Volstagg, Thor’s big-bearded Asgardian ally in the Thor films. His last appearance, sadly, came in Thor: Ragnarok when he died at the hands of the Goddess of Death Hela.

Stevenson Was Busy in the Film Industry Up Until His Untimely Death

Stevenson showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Recently, he made his Indian film debut with the Tollywood mega hit RRR where he played the villain to N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan‘s historical heroes. Star Wars fans, and Stevenson himself, seemed most excited, however, to see him in the upcoming Ahsoka. During Star Wars Celebration, Collider got the chance to speak with him, and he seemed truly awed by the production. As one of the antagonists of the series, he was not only going to butt heads with Rosario Dawson‘s titular character but also General Thrawn whom he teased his contention with. He’ll appear posthumously in the series this Summer, but it will now mark one of the last times he’ll appear on-screen.

Stevenson brought a special energy and joy to the projects he was a part of that are now tragically gone. Our condolences go out to Stevenson‘s friends and family.

via Collider