Ray Stevenson made his mark playing Titus Pullo in the incredible Rome series, but he also made a splash earlier this year playing the title character of Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone. Unfortunately the film was a bit of a disaster critically and at the box office but he was perfectly cast and did his job right.

Stevenson has also played some cool characters in King Arthur and Outpost among many others, but the best is yet to come as we'll be seeing a lot more of the growing star in the next few years with him being cast and working on a few big films including a role in the Denzel Washington starrer, The Book of Eli. For the Rome fans out there, a feature film based after the series is also in development so we can expect to see Titus Pullo back in action yet again.

Needless to say, I'm a Stevenson supporter and I'm very excited that he's been cast into my most anticipated Marvel Studios film: Thor. Stevenson, alongside Stuart Townsend and Tadanobu Asano, have been cast in the movie as The Warriors Three and Empire had a chance to talk to Ray about his large role in the trio

The Warriors Three play a supporting role in the Thor series and each of the three has their own distinct personality. Stevenson's character, Volstagg is the comic relief and really loves to drink. Clumsy and large in size, Volstagg is a loyal friend of Thor and a warrior who gets the job done one way or another.

As I said above, Volstagg The Valiant is a big Asgardian. A BIG Asgardian. So, we expected some heavy prosthetics would be needed for Stevenson to play the role. There's no time for him to chow down the unhealthy foods to gain weight in time for a production start in January.

Empire spoke with the talented actor about just this, and Stevenson seems to be loving every moment.

"It's fantastic... I've tried the suit on, and what they've done is kind of sex him up: he's sort of slimmer but rounder."

Slimmer but rounder eh?

"He's got every bit of that Falstaffian verve and vigour, and a bit of a beergut to suggest that enormous appetite, but he's not the sort of Weeble-shaped figure he is in the comics. He's Falstaff with muscles. I've got this amazing foam-injected undersuit that flexes with me. I can't wait!"

I can't either. Stevenson's another great addition to the already-impressive cast.

Thor is directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Thor’s half-brother/nemesis, Loki, Natalie Portman as Thor’s human love interest, Jane Foster, Anthony Hopkins as Thor’s father, Odin, Stellan Skarsgård, Colm Feore, Jamie Alexander as Asgardian warrior/love interest, Sif and Idris Alba as the guardian Heimdall.

What do you think of Stevenson as Volstagg and the others in the Warriors Three?

Rehearsals for Thor have begun this week and shooting is scheduled to start mid-January, just a few weeks away!

Thor storms into theaters on May 20, 2011.

Source: Empire