Some actors play the same type of role in every movie they’re in. For example, Will Ferrell is always going to be the funny man, but people like Chad Michael Murray will always err towards being a little more on the drama side. You’re good at what you’re good at, you know?
It just so happens that actor Sean Bean is good at dying. Well, just on screen, of course.
But seriously, have you ever noticed that in most of the films or TV shows he’s in, he ends up deceased at the end? The Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, GoldenEye…dead, dead, and—you guessed it—dead!
Sean Bean has, in fact, “died” a total of 23 times over the course of his acting career. And at this point in his life, he says he’s finally had enough of it. He’s even starting to turn down jobs he’s being offered if they say his character is supposed to die at the end.
“I just had to cut that out and start surviving, otherwise it was all a bit predictable,” said Bean in a recent interview with The Sun. “I did do one job and they said, ‘We’re going to kill you,’ and I was like, ‘Oh no!’ and then they said, ‘Well, can we injure you badly?’ and I was like, ‘OK, so long as I stay alive this time.’”
It’s not just Bean himself who’s sick of dying or worried it’s making the ending of movies predictable—it’s his fans too. There was even a #dontkillseanbean campaign that started back in 2014 because of how often he was known for turning up daisies on screen.
Well, we’re glad we can finally look forward to Bean staying alive in any upcoming films! Curious of every single character Sean Bean has played who has died? Check it out below!
Every movie/TV show that Sean Bean has died in:
Ranuccio “Caravaggio” (1986)
German Soldier “War Requiem” (1989)
Tadgh McCabe “The Field” (1990)
Carver Doone “Lorna Doone” (1990)
[Robert Lovelace “Clarissa” (1991)
Gabriel Lewis “Screen One: Tell Me That You Love Me” (1991)
Sean Miller”Patriot Games” (1992)
Lord Richard Fenton “Scarlett” (1994)
Alec Trevelyan “Goldeneye” (1995)
Dave Toombs “Airborne” (1998)
Jason Locke “Essex Boys” (2000)
Patrick Koster “Don’t Say a Word” (2001)
Boromir “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001)
Cleric Errol Partridge”Equilibrium” (2002)
Robert Aske “Henry VIII” (2003)
Dr. Merrick “The Island” (2005)
John Ryder “The Hitcher” (2007)
Bryant “Outlaw” (2007)
Loki “Far North” (2007)
John Dawson “Red Riding: 1974” (2008)
Pyke Kubic / Reese Kubic “Ca$h” (2010)
Ulrich”Black Death” (2010)
Markus Kane “Death Race 2” (2010)
Jones “Age of Heroes” (2011)
Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark “Game of Thrones: Baelor” (2011)
Harry “Silent Hill: Revelation” (2012)
Frank Stinson “Wicked Blood” (Bad Blood) (2014)
Inspector John Marlott “The Frankenstein Chronicles: Lost and Found” (2015)
Regis Lucis Caelum “Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV” (2016; animated)
That’s quite the list, huh? Tell us: Have you seen any of these movies or shows above? Did you ever notice how often Sean Bean seems to die on screen? What do you think of him deciding to call it quits on the deceased role playing?