Ray's bully ordeal when folks Rome'd from native Ulster
Sunday, 6 January 2008
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The Ulster-born star of BBC epic Rome has revealed he was bullied while growing up in England because of his Ulster roots.
Ray Stevenson, who plays womaniser Titus Pullo in the popular drama, was born in Lisburn where his soldier father was stationed.
But when the family later moved to England he was beaten up by schoolmates who linked him to the IRA.
He recalled: "It was during the Troubles that dad decided we should move to Newcastle.
"When I was between nine and 13 I was bullied on a regular basis.
"The IRA was in the news, and because we'd lived in Northern Ireland I was labelled an IRA kid.
"I had the s**t kicked out of me on a regular basis and even though I can look back on it now and say there was no damage done, it was pretty miserable."
The 43-year-old actor's memories of Ulster are happier, however - and may explain why he plays the role of the Roman soldier so convincingly.
Stevenson told a national magazine that his earliest memories involved " visiting the Army barracks and asking the soldiers to show me their live rounds".
gedgar@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
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