Summary
- Sean Bean is known for his ability to sell a death scene and has died in 24 separate films and TV shows, comprising approximately a quarter of his on-screen catalog.
- Bean dies in each of the successful franchises he has appeared in, including
James Bond, Lord of the Rings,
and
Game of Thrones
, highlighting the high body count of his characters. - His memorable deaths range from throat slashing to being crushed by a satellite dish, showcasing the diversity of his on-screen demises.
The number of Sean Bean deaths throughout the actor’s long career has become so numerous that the Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones star is perhaps best known for his ability to sell a death scene. Bean is known for his tough demeanor and piercing performances, but his success as an actor has become somewhat overshadowed by his propensity for getting killed onscreen. Bean has died in 24 separate films and TV shows, comprising approximately a quarter of his on-screen catalog. From stabbing to shootings to death via cow, every Sean Bean death is different.
Bean has appeared in several of the most successful franchises in history, including James Bond, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones — all of which the actor dies in. Whether it be getting offed by Bond in GoldenEye, Boromir’s heroic death in Lord of the Rings, or Ned Stark’s execution in Game of Thrones, Bean is known for making a memorably fatal exit that it’s almost more surprising when his characters are still alive by the time the credits roll. Taking a look at all the Sean Bean deaths makes it clear how he earned this unusual reputation.
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1 Caravaggio (1986)
Method Of Death: Throat Slashed
One of Sean Bean’s earliest movies, Caravaggio, is a fictionalized retelling of events from the life of the baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Bean plays Ranuccio Tommasoni, an acquaintance of Caravaggio’s who develops a deadly infatuation. Sean Bean’s first on-screen death came in this movie when Ranuccio had his throat slashed by the titular artist.
Although there is some debate regarding the artist’s intentions, as the real Caravaggio did in fact murder Ranuccio — though it was as a result of a duel via a lacerated femoral artery that some theorize was meant to castrate him. While there are perhaps more gruesome versions that the movie could have used, this is a memorable death scene for Bean to kick off the trend with the look of shock on his face as he dies feeling genuinely heartbreaking.
2 War Requiem (1989)
Method Of Death: Bayonetted
War Requiem is a film adaptation of Benjamin Britten’s 1963 musical piece of the same name. The film is notably different from every modern war movie as there is no dialogue or sound effects other than what is included in the original recording, using only music and Wilfred Owen’s own words to tell his story.
It stars Laurence Olivier in his final role before his death. The legendary actor plays a man looking back on his time in the war. Bean plays an unnamed German soldier who is fatally stabbed with a bayonet by the main character. Despite having no dialogue nor even a character name, this is a significant death in Bean’s career as it shows Olivier’s character is still haunted by the killing of his young adversary, highlighting the themes of the complexity of war and loss of humanity.
3 Lorna Doone (1990)
Method Of Death: Drowned
Lorna Doone is a British TV movie based on the 1869 novel of the same name by R.D. Blackmore. West Country yeoman John Ridd vows to avenge the death of his father by destroying the notorious Doone Clan, but his plan is quickly interrupted when he falls in love with their daughter, Lorna. The story is as romantic as it is tragic, seemingly taking nods from the works of William Shakespeare.
Sean Bean plays Carver Doone, heir to the Doone family who kills Lorna on her wedding day before being chased into a bog and subsequently drowning. It is one of many villainous performances that Bean would play over the course of his career. In most of these bad guy roles, Bean’s character would get his comeuppance and be killed in the climax. Indeed, while it is hard to feel sorry for the character in this instance, Bean does sell the fear Carver has as drowns.
4 The Field (1990)
Method Of Death: Death By Cow
The Field is an Irish drama film based on the 1965 stage play by John B. Keane. “Bull” McCabe (Richard Harris) has spent three decades tending a plot of land in a field on the Irish bluffs, but when the widow who owns the plot puts it up for auction, McCabe will do anything to keep the land from falling into the hands of an ill-intentioned American businessman.
Sean Bean plays Tadhg McCabe, the emotionally stunted son of “Bull”, who is pushed off of a cliff by a herd of cattle in the film’s climax.The Field was nominated for several Academy Awards, including a Best Actor nomination for Harris. While it makes for one of the most unusual and distinct deaths in Bean’s career, it is also one of the most tragic. Tadgh was an innocent young man and his death is a final blow of grief to his father.
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5 Clarissa (1991)
Method Of Death: Stabbed
Clarissa is a British period drama series based on the 1748 novel by Samuel Richardson. The story follows the virtuous Clarissa (Saskia Wickham) as she is manipulated by family members and potential suitors in search of her inherited fortune. Bean plays Lovelace, Clarissa’s love interest who seems to be her hope for escaping the tight grasp of her overpowering family. However, there is always a hint that he has other intentions.
The climax of the movie reveals that Lovelace is one of the most villainous and hateful characters that Bean has played in his career. The truth of his motivations becomes clear as he betrays Clarissa and ruins her reputation, leading to her death. However, Lovelace’s actions don’t bring him to the ending he hoped for as his family turns on him and he is stabbed to death by his former friend out of disgust for what he did.
6 Patriot Games (1992)
Method Of Death: Impaled By An Anchor
Patriot Games is the second entry in the Jack Ryan movie franchise based on Tom Clancy’s novels, serving as an effective sequel to 1990’s TheHunt for Red October, although many of the roles were recast with Harrison Ford now playing Ryan instead of Alec Baldwin. After thwarting an assassination attempt on the British Minister of State, Ryan becomes the target of a powerful Irish terrorist group bent on revenge.
Sean Bean plays Sean Miller in Patriot Games, a high-ranking member of the terrorist group whose brother is killed during the attempted assassination. Miller spends the movie going after Ryan for revenge, even turning on his comrades when they don’t share his priorities. Miller is ultimately killed during the high-octane climax, rammed onto an anchor atop a moving boat by Ryan. This memorable scene was one of the first that put Bean on the map as the go-to actor for convincing death scenes.
7 Scarlett (1994)
Method Of Death: Stabbed
Scarlett is an American miniseries based on the 1991 book by Alexandra Ripley, which served as an effective sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel Gone With the Wind. The story follows the eponymous Scarlett O’Hara (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) on a journey around the world as she meets various friends and family members in an attempt to win back Rhett’s heart. Sean Bean plays Lord Richard Fenton, an Irish noble with a romantic interest in Scarlett.
Similar to Clarissa, Scarlett presents Bean as a romantic suitor for the main character only to reveal that he is a despicable man. When Fenton rapes one of his female servants, the woman retaliates by stabbing and killing the Lord. While it is another fitting death for a villainous Bean character, Fenton’s death has greater implications for the story as Scarlett takes the blame for it.
8 GoldenEye (1995)
Method Of Death: Crushed By A Satellite Dish
GoldenEye is the first of the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movies, the 17th film in the 007 franchise, and the first Bond story not to be adapted from the works of author Ian Fleming. After a mission gone awry, Agent 006 is presumed dead. Nearly a decade after the failed mission when a deadly satellite falls into the hands of a Russian crime syndicate, it becomes clear that things are not as they seem.
Sean Bean plays Agent 006 Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye, who is thrown from the satellite in the climactic fight with Bond and then has the dish crash on top of him. While this wasn’t the first Sean Bean death, it was arguably the most prominent of his career until that point, and still ranks among those that first come to mind when discussing the actor’s many on-screen fatalities.
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9 Airborne (1998)
Method Of Death: Shot
Airborne is a little-known 1990s action film with a famous cast and a forgettable story. A group of thieves break into a top-secret government facility and steal a deadly virus, so a special ops team called Mach 1 is tasked with recovering it. The movie takes more than a few blatant inspirations from other films, like Michael Bay’s The Rock and the Kurt Russell thriller Executive Decision. However, Airborne‘s low-budget execution leaves a lot to be desired.
Sean Bean plays Dave Toombs, the leader of the thieves and a deadly master of disguise who proves to be a formidable villain in the story. Following the success of Patriot Games and GoldenEye, it is not surprising that Bean became a sought-after Hollywood villain. However, this is not one of his better movies, and his death as he is fatally shot by Bill McNeil (played by comedy actor Steve Guttenberg) in the film’s climax is totally lackluster.
10 Essex Boys (2000)
Method Of Death: Shot
Essex Boys is a British crime film loosely based on real events. In 1995, three notorious drug dealers from Rettendon, Essex, UK were lured to Workhouse Lane where they were gunned down while sitting in their car. Sean Bean plays Jason Locke,a fictionalized version of one of the drug dealers who was shot and killed on that day in 1995.
The movie takes an objective look at the events leading up to the murder with Jason getting back into the criminal world after being released from prison. With plenty of betrayals and deals gone wrong, there are a lot of elements that make it seem inevitable when the movie reaches its violent conclusion. It is interesting that this is a death from Bean’s career that audiences would have been aware of going into the movie, assuming they knew the true story behind the story.
11 Don’t Say A Word (2001)
Method Of Death: Buried Alive
Don’t Say a Word is a psychological thriller based on the 1991 novel by Andrew Klavan. A team of thieves kidnaps the daughter of a prominent psychiatrist, forcing him to extract a passcode from a girl with PTSD (Brittany Murphy) that will unveil the location of a precious gem in exchange for his daughter’s life. Sean Bean plays Patrick Koster, the leader of the thieves.
The movie is an underrated thriller that features a standout performance from Murphy with Bean serving as the source of her trauma, as he was the man responsible for the death of her father in front of her eyes. He pays for his crime in a karmic way when he falls into an open grave and is buried by an excavator. While Don’t Say a Word isn’t the most well-known Bean death scene, it is arguably one of the most difficult to watch, as being buried alive is a dark fear that many people share.
12 Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
Method Of Death: Shot With Arrows
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. A group of representatives from various factions and races of Middle-earth is tasked with destroying a ring imbued with powerful magic in the fires of Mt. Doom before it can be used as an implement of war. Sean Bean plays Boromir, a dangerous and untrustworthy member of the Fellowship who redeems himself in his final moments by giving his life to protect the ring and those who bear it.
Boromir’s death in The Fellowship of the Rings remains one of the high points of the trilogy. It is a prolonged moment, with Boromir getting shot by multiple arrows, yet he becomes all the more heroic when he fights on before finally succumbing to his injuries. It’s fair to say that until the release of Game of Thrones in 2011 the death of Boromir was the most well-known Sean Bean death.
13 Equilibrium (2002)
Method Of Death: Shot
2002’s Equilibrium is an overlooked sci-fi movie with Orwellian vibes set in a dystopian and uncompassionate future. All emotion and artistic expression have been outlawed by the Tetragrammaton Council, and the populace is forced to take powerful psychoactive drugs to suppress their feelings. When an enforcement officer misses a dose, he begins to question the morality of his world, inevitably joining forces with a resistance movement to help take down the regime that he once defended.
Bean plays Errol Partridge, a fellow enforcement officer who is introduced as John Preston’s (Christian Bale) partner at the beginning of the movie. It is a short role for Bean as he is shot and killed by Preston for reading poetry, an emotional act of defiance to the regime. However, this is another example of a death scene from Bean being pivotal to the plot as Patridge’s willingness to die in defiance of the law sparks something inside Preston.
14 Henry VIII (2003)
Method Of Death: Hanged
Henry VIII is a British miniseries based on the history of the infamous real-life King of England. The two-part series focuses on the 36-year reign of the controversial king, from his ascension to the throne up to his death in 1547. Henry VIII is among the most damning shows about the English monarchy, pulling few of its punches against the unscrupulous king.
Sean Bean plays Robert Aske, a former comrade of Henry who is tricked by the nefarious king into incriminating himself,leading him to be hanged for treason. There is a brutality to the death that is not often seen in Bean’s character demises. With so many of his characters being villains who got what was coming to them, to see the actor play a character who gets punished so sadistically after being wronged by someone else is impactful and haunting.
15 The Island (2005)
Method Of Death: Shot With Grappling Hook And Hanged
Director Michael Bay assembled an impressive cast that included Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, and Sean Bean for a rather forgettable movie in his career. The Island is a science fiction thriller that has been described as a pastiche of the “escape from dystopia”-style films popularized in the ‘60s and ‘70s. The residents of a futuristic facility labor under the promise that they might be granted the opportunity to move to the Island, a supposed utopia and the last uncontaminated place on Earth.
However, one of the residents begins to uncover dark secrets when the woman he loves is chosen to leave the facility. Sean Bean plays Dr. Bernard Merrick, the scientist who runs the compound and is brutally killed by the protagonist via being shot and hung in one of the most gruesome climaxes in any of Michael Bay’s movies.
16 Far North (2007)
Method Of Death: Froze
Far North is an independently produced film based on the short story by Sara Maitland, which marks one of the most disturbing demises in Bean’s career — not for how he dies, but what leads to his death. The film follows two Native women, Anja and Saiva, in the arctic regions of Siberia who come across a badly injured soldier (Bean) deserted in the frozen tundra. Bean’s wounded soldier eventually names himself as “Loki.”
Sean Bean was in three movies in 2007, and died in all of them.
In a tremendously upsetting climax, Loki comes in from the cold to have sex with Anja, only afterward realizing that Saiva had killed her, removing her face and wearing it as a mask. Distraught, Loki flees naked into the cold to freeze in one of the most unique deaths in horror, let alone Bean’s career. Though it is an underseen movie, this is an ending most viewers won’t forget.
17 Outlaw (2007)
Method Of Death: Shot
Outlaw is a British action thriller featuring a Boondock Saints-esque style of vigilantism. A group of people who feel betrayed by their government and let down by their police force form a modern-day outlaw posse in order to right what they see as the wrongs of society. Sean Bean plays Danny Bryant, an ex-soldier who returned from the war and organizes this band of vigilante warriors.
This is another complex character for Bean, as Danny is not a villain, yet he is not a noble hero either. His motivations are understandable but his actions are flawed. This leads Danny to be killed in a firefight with a corrupt police force in the film’s climax. Bean’s performance is solid as always, although this death is far less memorable than some of the more inventive ways his characters have died.
18 The Hitcher (2007)
Method Of Death: Shot
The Hitcher is a remake of the 1986 thriller film of the same name, a chilling realistic horror movie that makes the audience think twice about giving a stranger a ride. Two college students pick up a hitchhiker who quickly turns violent, with the two only barely managing to escape with their lives. When the couple finds themselves framed for murder, a terrifying game of cat and mouse begins between them and their newfound rival.
The Hitcher is different than the original 1986 slasher flick, making the remake more suspenseful than gruesome. Sean Bean plays the eponymous hitcher John Ryder, and as seasoned as Bean is at playing the villain, he falls short of the original portrayal of the character by Rutger Hauer. Ryder pushes the protagonist to the limits throughout the movie until she is finally driven to execute him with a shotgun blast to the head in the movie’s final scene.
19 Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974 (2008)
Method Of Death: Shot
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974 is the first installment of the three-part Red Riding TV adaptation of the Red Riding Quartet novels by David Peace. Plagued by guilt, a corrupt police official attempts to solve the case of a missing schoolgirl after seeing connections between her disappearance and a rash of prior abductions. Sean Bean appears as John Dawson, an unscrupulous and powerful real estate developer seemingly involved in several gruesome murders.
The TV movie marks an early role for Andrew Garfield as the conflicted protagonist Eddie Dunford, who becomes convinced Dawson is guilty, but is unable to get to the truth. The thriller builds to an intense climax in which Bean’s character is shot by Eddie in desperation shortly before he is killed in a car accident. It is a shocking moment in which Dawson discovers he is not as untouchable as he thought.
20 Black Death (2010)
Method Of Death: Torn And Quartered
With Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings ranking among Sean Bean’s most famous death scenes, there is reason to be nervous about any of his characters who find themselves in a medieval-like setting. Black Death is a German-British horror film set in medieval England. Set during the first outbreak of bubonic plague, a young monk is sent to investigate reports of people being brought back to life in a small village.
Bean plays Ulric, an envoy for the bishop who travels to the village with the monks to help with the investigation. However, the noble hero meets a gruesome end as he is brutally ripped apart by horses after the group refuses to renounce their God. This is easily one of the most painful and barbaric of Bean’s movie deaths, even if Black Death isn’t among the most renowned movies of his career.
