When you think of venerable fantasy actors who deliver memorable performances, there aren’t many more well-known than Sean Bean. A soft-spoken and overall sweet guy with a reputation and a scattered career, Bean is an acting talent who has shown up in films, television, radio, theater, and voice acting since the early 80s. With a strong passion for acting (particularly Shakespearean theater), he has been known to feature as a poetically tragic character throughout his career.
With this in mind, it’s not hard to believe that many — and I mean most — of his characters on screen perish after internally struggling to an extreme extent. I could easily make this about the many on-screen deaths of Sean Bean (see the “Sean Bean death reel” on YouTube), ranking their buildups and epic conclusions, but today, we are here to appreciate him as an actor and acknowledge the best Sean Bean movies and TV shows. That is not to say we won’t be talking about his many deaths, as they are multitudinous and unavoidable.
Bean isn’t exactly known for his accent changes in films, as he mostly maintains his Yorkshire accent, which works quite well in just about every role he chooses. Since he prefers to act in films of an older period, it’s hard not to picture him in the historical, traditional garb of a bygone era. One of the most prominent roles Bean played was Richard Sharpe of the Sharpe series — consider this an honorable mention since it is so extensive and we can’t really single out one of the films for this list. So, getting to the thick of it, here is the list of the 12 best Sean Bean roles in film.
Disclaimer: It should be known that the many deaths of Sean Bean will be talked about, meaning there will be extensive spoilers for those of you who are unfamiliar.
12. National Treasure (2004)
11. Red Riding (2009)
10. The Island (2005)
9. Snowpiercer (2020)
8. Patriot Games (1992)
7. The Hitcher (2007)
6. Troy (2004)
5. Black Death (2010)
4. Game of Thrones (2011)
3. Equilibrium (2002)
2. GoldenEye (1995)
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
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