Actor Sean Bean has been in a lot of amazing movies and television series. He made an impression on all of us as Boromir in Lord of the Rings and Ned Stark in “Game of Thrones.” But he also developed a reputation as an actor whose character always ends up dead.
Now, Bean is pushing back against the trend.
After experiencing 23 onscreen deaths, he says no more. He won’t accept any more roles where his character dies.
But the 60-year-old actor says it’s not exactly a new decision — he’s already been turning down roles that involve a character’s death. He says that after a while, it just got all too predictable.
“I just had to cut that out and start surviving, otherwise it was all a bit predictable,” said Bean. “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’.”
But Bean isn’t the only one who’s tired of the trend.
His fans say they don’t want to see him die on-screen anymore either, starting the #dontkillseanbean internet trend in 2014. Bean clearly appreciates the gesture since he’s been seen wearing a T-shirt with the hashtag on it.
It’s been a while since any of Bean’s characters died, the last one as Ned Stark on “Game of Thrones” (spoiler alert) all the way back in 2011.
Now that the actor’s been character death-free for almost a decade, he aims to make it the new trend of his career.
“I’ve played a lot of baddies, they were great but they weren’t very fulfilling — and I always died,” he said.
Bean’s been acting for 35 years and in that time, he’s died in countless ways.
He’s been beheaded, shot through with arrows, pushed off a cliff by cattle, fallen, and torn limb from limb. At this point, Bean says it’s become too silly because audiences can basically predict a character’s going to die if he’s played by Bean.
“I’ve turned down stuff,” he said. “I’ve said, ‘They know my character’s going to die because I’m in it!’”
When it came to “Game of Thrones,” Bean didn’t really get to be part of the series.
Since his character died in the first season, he felt a little removed from the rest of the cast, which gained fame as the show grew in popularity over the years.
But in spite of not really being part of the ride, Bean is happy for his “Game of Thrones” co-stars.
“They’re bigger stars than me,” he said. “They were so much younger at the time as it was eight years ago, but now you see them in Vogue and all these magazines. It’s a fairytale come true.”
As for Bean himself, he’s looking forward to continuing to act in new films — and this time, surviving.
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