British film and TV actor Ray Stevenson was born in Northern Ireland on May 24, 1964. He relocated with his family to Lemington, New Castle-Upon-Tyne, England after eight years, and then moved to Cramlington, Northumberland where he was raised. Stevenson had early dreams of becoming an actor, despite his thought of its impossibility. He went on to pursue another career, and went to art school instead. He became an interior designer at a London-based architectural firm, before he tried out acting at the age of 25. He soon attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and graduated four years later.
Ray Stevenson has appeared on films like King Arthur, Some Kind of Life and The Theory of Flight. He has had numerous television appearances, debuting as a journalist in A Woman’s Guide to Adultery in 1993. This was followed by roles in television miniseries like Peak Practice and The Tide of Life. He was cast in the show City Central in 1998. He was also in episodes of At Home with the Braithwaites, Holby City, and The Bill, all in 2000. After several more roles on TV, he landed a spot on the HBO historical drama, a series titled Rome. There he plays Titus Pullo, a soldier who came from the freedman class having flexible morals and a devil-may-care attitude. Stevenson was also given roles in made-for-TV movies like the horror film Babylon Fields and Life Line, both in 2007, and Green-Eyed Monster in 2001. He was next seen as the character DC in the Steve Barker-directed action film Outpost in 2008. Stevenson has also been a regular on stage, playing the part of Christ in the York Mystery Plays at York Minister in 2000. He was seen at London’s Albery Theatre in Kevin Elyot’s Mouth to Mouth, opposite Lindsay Duncan and Michael Maloney. Stevenson was also recognized for portraying the Cardinal in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi at the Royal National Theatre in 2003.