There are certain actors who portray the same type of characters so often that theystart to become typecast. Some, like Jim Carrey, for example, are repeatedly cast as the funny guy while there’s a long list of actors who’ve struggled to get away from the evil villain role. While British actor Sean Bean can perhaps count himself among them, he’s better known for something a little bit different.
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Few actors have died on-screen quite as many times as Bean; who has bitten the bullet in almost half of the movies in which he has appeared in as well as a handful of television showsand games. Many of these deaths have been simple shootings, but there have been plenty of memorable ones as well. Some have been gruesome, others tragic, and a select few have been downright bizarre.
Updated July 07, 2025 by Tom Bowen:Though the characters he’s portrayed have largely been able to stave off the sharp claws of death in recent years, Sean Bean will probably never escape his reputation as an actor that always seems to die on screen. Back in his younger days, Bean met many an unfortunate end, with more than twenty-five deaths currently punctuating his acting CV and showreel. Some have been a little generic, but most have left a lasting impression on audiences; either due to how graphic they were or because of the ridiculous circumstances that led to them. With a handful from each pot included, these are the best and most memorable Sean Bean character deaths of all time.
15Lorna Doone (1990) - A Bog Standard Drowning
It may not always remain faithful to the source material, butLorna Dooneis still a pretty decent movie. Bean does an excellent job of capturing Carver’s ill-temper and the on-screen chemistry that he shares with Clive Owen makes their characters' interactions infinitely more compelling.
Much like in R.D. Blackmore’s 1869 novel, Carver eventually comes to an unfortunate end after shooting up a wedding. Exhausted from the resulting chase, he drowns in a bog as long-time rival John Ridd watches on. Carver’s actions warrant no sympathy whatsoever, which, in many ways, makes the death feel somewhat satisfying in a karmic kind of way.
14War Requiem (1989) - Bayoneted in Battle
Nobody should need reminding of the harsh reality of war, but, for those who do,War Requiemis a pretty good place to start. It’s a bleak and tragic tale of life in the trenches that explores both the psyche and motivations of those serving on the front line during the first world war. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Bean’s character is one of the movie’s many casualties.
Given that Bean is portraying a German soldier at the time, it’s unlikely that too many tears were shed when it happened. It’s still an incredibly tense and brutal scene, however, with the character first shot through the hand and then stabbed multiple times with a bayonet in what can only be described as a frenzied and frantic attack.
13Clarissa (1991) - Slain For Revenge
With a budget of around £3 million,Clarissais one of the most ambitious BBC miniseries to come out of the early nineties. Whether it lives up to the lofty expectations borne of its somewhat extravagant budget is definitely a matter for debate, though there can be no disputing the satisfying nature of its conclusion.
Bean’s character, Lovelace, is the kind of guy who is easy to hate, yet somehow manages to remain charming despite his obviously cruel intentions. It all catches up to him in the end though, leading to a sword fight in which he’s fatally stabbed in the abdomen. The choreography here is pretty cool, with his opponent ultimately stabbing himself through the chest in order to land the deciding blow.
12Henry VIII (2003) - Executed for Treason
It may have only been a TV movie, but the BBC’s production ofHenry VIIIfeatured an all-star cast made up of some of Britain’s very best actors. Sean Bean was deservedly among them and played lawyer turned rebel, Robert Aske. Though some viewers took issue with some of the creative liberties taken by the movie’s writers when it came to their characterization of Aske, the manner of the character’s death was very much in line with that of his real-world counterpart.
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Just as he does in the history books, the eponymous monarch had Bean’s character executed for treason, which saw him hung outside Clifford’s Tower in Yorkshire. Given the King’s passion for beheadings, the method of execution may come as a surprise to some, though Bean would eventually go on to meet with the executioner’s blade a little later on in his career.
11Caravaggio (1986) - A Cut-Throat Love Triangle
Not only isCaravaggioone of Sean Bean’s earliest movies, but it also marks the very first time when the actor would die on screen. On this occasion, his death comes at the hands of an angry artist, who slits Bean’s character’s throat in a passionate act of vengeance. Given the bond between the pair, it makes for a very powerful moment.
As is often the case, Bean’s character arguably got what was coming to him; having previously murdered his pregnant girlfriend in an act of jealousy. That the couple also happens to have been involved in an awkward love triangle with the titular character makes Lena’s death infinitely more tragic, as too does Ranuccio’s proclamation that he only killed Lena so that he and Caravaggio could be together.
10Equilibrium (2002) - Executed For His Love Of Poetry
Set in a dystopian future in which a third world war has brought humanity to its knees,Equilibriumborrows a lot from the past despite itsfuturistic setting. The bulk of the movie takes place in Libria, a totalitarian city-state in which citizens are injected with a daily dose of psychoactive drugs in order to suppress all emotion.
Bean plays Errol Partridge, a high-ranking cleric with a love of literature and poetry. Unfortunately, these pursuits are no longer allowed in Libria, and Errol is executed by his partner after being caught saving a book of W.B. Yeats poems rather than burning it as he was supposed to. His death is not in vain though, as it does help his now former partner to discover that he too has emotions inside of him which ultimately leads to him joining an underground revolution and bringing down the establishment.
9Far North (2007) - Killed By Climate
Sean Bean has appeared in some really bizarre movies over the years, but none more so thanFar North. It’s an independent flick set in the arctic tundras of Siberia in which Bean plays an injured soviet soldier named Loki who’s taken in by a native woman called Saiva and her daughter Anja. As he slowly recovers from his wounds, Loki falls madly in love with Anja and the pair make plans to return to civilization and start a family together.
Rather than being happy for her daughter though, Saiva is overcome with grief and depression and this somehow leads to her choking her daughter to death and then wearing her face like a Halloween mask. Of course, Loki sees right through this feeble disguise, although not before having sex with her first. Upon finally realizing what has happened, he flees naked into the frozen tundra where he presumably freezes to death a short while later.
8Goldeneye (1995) - Crushed By A Satellite
James Bond may be the most famous double 0 agent, but he is far from the only one. We see many of his comrades throughout the movies, although most aretypically used strictly as background characters. One of the few who has played a major role though is Alec Trevelyan who was portrayed by Sean Bean and went by the code name 006.
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InGoldeneye, he fakes his death in order to carry out his plan to use a state of the art weapon to steal financial records from the Bank of England and completely destroy the UK’s economy. This ultimately leads to the two double 0 agents duking it out atop a giant satellite dish before Trevelyan falls to the hard ground below. Amazingly, he’s somehow able to survive this huge drop although dies not long after when he is crushed by the flaming wreckage of the dish.
7Patriot Games (1992) - Impaled By An Anchor
Sean Bean was one of the many new faces to appear inPatriot Games, the highly anticipated sequel to Tom Clancy’sThe Hunt for Red October. He plays Sean Miller, a member of an Irish republican paramilitary organization, who swears vengeance against the main protagonist Jack Ryan after he kills his brother Patrick.
The movie’s high octane climax sees the two men going blow for blow on a moving speedboat. For a while, it looks like it could go either way, but the hero eventually gains the upper hand and impales Bean’s character on an anchor. Ryan then jumps into the water just moments before the boat crashes into some rocks and explodes into a ball of flames.
6Don’t Say A Word (2001) - Buried Alive
Based on Andrew Klavan’s novel of the same name,Don’t Say a Wordsees Bean star as Patrick Koster, the leader of a gang of international jewel thieves. After theyteam up to steal a ten million dollar gem, however, his team double-crosses him, and he ends up in jail for quite some time.
Upon his release, he sets out to reclaim his bounty and take revenge on those who betrayed him. This eventually leads him to the grave of the late father of one of his crew and the gem ends up getting thrown into an earth excavator. Before Koster can get his hands on it though, someone turns the machine on and he ends up getting buried alive beneath a pile of fresh dirt and mud.
