Шон Бін у фільмі «Володар перснів» / New Line
The actor Sean Bean, best known for his roles in «The Lord of the Rings» and «Game of Thrones», has long been an online meme — mainly because his characters were killed on screen quite often
Over the almost 40 years of his acting career, Bean’s characters have been pushed off a cliff by angry cows, beheaded, and quartered, but the actor doesn’t consider this a disadvantage, given that his roles can be considered important, not passable.
«I realized that there were quite a few deaths. And no one needs to tell me about it. It’s obviously»,” Bean said in a recent Radio Times interview. «But I played great characters, and I thought I’d rather play them and die than get someone passable who lives on».
Sean added that the flood of memes initially made him think about dying on screen less often, but now it doesn’t bother him at all. Although the actor is careful to clarify: «In reality, I’m alive!».
The social media campaign with the hashtag #dontkillseanbean started more than a decade ago when Bean played undercover FBI agent Martin Odum in the TV series «Legends», although in fact the two most memed and dramatic deaths brought him the roles of Boromir in «The Lord of the Rings» and Neth Stark in «Game of Thrones».
Trisha Melton, Head of Marketing at TNT, the American network that produced the «Legends» series saidthat Bin «laughed out loud» when he first learned about the hashtag.
«He was 100% in favor of not being killed off in Legends. He has a great sense of humor and enjoys making sure the fans are entertained».
Later, the actor characterized memes as his «unintentional legacy».
Bean’s latest work is a role in a new BBC gangster drama called «This City Is Ours». And it seems that it will not be without violence either, as the actor has already said that he will forbid his grandchildren to watch the new show.
It’s worth noting that despite the fact that Sean is most famous for «Deadly Memes», he is not a record holder for deaths on screen. Pros by Dexerto calculationsThe actor’s characters died 24-25 times, which is not so much compared to other stars: John Hurt met his end on screen 43 times, Vincent Price and Dennis Hopper 48 times each, while Bean’s «Lord of the Rings» co-star Christopher Lee lost his characters a whopping 70 times.