Tall, dark, but somewhat gentle-looking actor Ray Stevenson was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland on 25 May 1964, on a British army base. His father was a British pilot in the Royal Air Force, and his mother is Irish. 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 raised.

As a child, he dreamed to become an actor, but he also thought that dream was impossible. So he pursued his other love, art, and went to art school instead. He was an interior designer with an architectural firm in London when he at 25 decided to try out acting. Eventually he attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating at the age of 29. At the beginning of 90s, he began his career on films. He did a few TV films, one of them is The Return of the Native (1994), where he appeared opposite Clive Owen, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Steven Mackintosh. He also filmed The Theory of Flight (1998) Greenwich Mean Time (1999), Green-Eyed Monster (2001) (TV) and a lot of TV guest roles in series. Finally, he made a international breakout with King Arthur (2004), as quiet, but loyal knight Dagonet, again with Clive Owen (who played Arthur), Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen, Ray Winstone and Stellan Skarsgard. After a few more TV films, Stevenson's popularity started to rise by each film. But, his real fame came with HBO's "Rome" (2005 - 2007), as funny, but heroically fearless legionary Titus Pullo, opposite Kevin McKidd.

Ruth Gemmell (November 1997) 

Trivia

Is the third actor to play Punisher in living motion picture. All three actors that played Punisher are of different nationality. The first one Dolph Lundgren is Swedish, second Thomas Jane is American and Ray Stevenson is British.
Has a passion for art, especially in water color painting.
Is in relationship with Italian anthropologist Elisabetta Caraccia whom he met while filming "Rome". They have a son Sebastiano Derek Stevenson born on 24 December 2007.
He and his ex-wife Ruth Gemmell played husband and wife in Peak Practice (1993).
Did not start acting until he was twenty-five.

Humor is a very important thing. It is a natural predilection. It is an emotional release.
As an actor, I love working with directors. As much as I love working with other actors.
The best piece of advice I've ever been given was, 'Be in the business you're in.' Don't just be a satellite around it and expect it to come to you. Be in the business you're in.
Well, I'm not a natural gym person myself, anyway.
Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, 'I'm a bad guy.' They think they're the right guy.
Life itself is pretty funny when you realize how absurd it can be.
It is a tough business but if you get yourself in a situation like I, you can maintain a career over many years. That, to me, is a successful actor.
I wouldn't ever presume to say that I am a comic book fan.
I suppose you just feel on an instinctive level if something is honest.
I never thought I would get to have my own action figure.
Working at night helps people focus in on this crazy little bubble you've created, wherever you are filming. It doesn't matter where the location is, the world doesn't exist outside this bubble. And everyone is trapped inside.