India Mourns Actor Ray Stevenson, Famous for Playing Villain in Blockbuster Film ‘RRR’

The cast and crew of India’s delirious action-fantasy RRR bid a fond farewell this week to their costar Ray Stevenson, the veteran Irish actor who played the villain in the film, fictitious Governor Scott Buxton.

Stevenson fit right in with the movie’s tone, in which one of the least bizarre plot twists is a man beating up a tiger with his fists. The title stands for “Rise, Roar, Revolt,” and Stevenson plays the man everyone is revolting against (the tigers do some, but not all, of the roaring).

Representatives for Stevenson told the Associated Press on Sunday that he had passed away in Italy but did not offer any details. Outside of his brief career in Telangana cinema, the actor was known for his prominent roles in the Thor films, the Punisher, and the HBO series Rome.

While Stevenson’s character in RRR was the epitome of hissable mustache-twirling villainy, the cast and crew became very fond of the actor:

This is what Stevenson’s character was doing in that scene:

Alas, Governor Buxton. His sharpshooting-in-midair skills proved insufficient against adversaries who can throw wild animals at their enemies.

RRR star Ram Charan tipped his hat to both Stevenson and the character he played:

Costar N.T. Rama Rao Jr. offered his condolences as well:

Director SS Rajamouli said that working with Stevenson was “pure joy”:

Stevenson, an imposing screen presence at six-foot-four, most commonly played gruff heroes or anti-heroes rather than outright villains. He will have another shot at the bad guy Hall of Fame when he appears as the antagonist in the Star Wars series Ahsoka on Disney Plus in August.