If you’re an actor on the big screen or the little screen, that means you can die over and over again. Each time you play a new character you could end up dying again. Most actors only die on screen a few times during their careers, but there are a few who have died at least 20 times on screen.
You might have noticed that some of your favorite actors always end up playing characters that die—and no, it’s not just Sean Bean who dies all the time. Surprisingly, he has had the least amount of on-screen deaths. Famous names such as Nicolas Cage, Lance Henriksen, and Christopher Lee all have a habit of dying on screen as well. Here are the stars who have died the most on screen.
10 Sean Bean - 25
Everyone knows Sean Bean as the actor who always dies on screen, but surprisingly, he’s had the least amount of deaths on our list. 25 on-screen deaths is still a lot though. “Sean Bean has died so many times in movies and TV shows that he's had enough. The actor recently declared that he won't be accepting any more roles that involve his character going to the afterlife,” according to ScreenRant. With that many different on-screen deaths, it’s no wonder why he doesn’t want to play dying characters anymore.
9 Gary Busey - 27
Gary Busey is known for his roles in The Buddy Holly Story and Point Break, which his characters both died in. He’s died so many times in movies that other actors joke around with him about it. According to ScreenRant, “Gary Busey has died more than 20 times in movies. That's a little bit too much. In fact, there was a time that people were so used to seeing him die that in the Saturday Night Live 25th anniversary special, host Billy Crystal spotted him and screamed, ‘Gary Busey! You are alive!’"
8 Mickey Rourke - 32
Mickey Rourke has had more than 30 fake deaths in movies and is still only the third one on our list. Unlike other actors, his on-screen deaths seem to have a pattern to them. He seems to always get shot by somebody. According to ScreenRant, “Rourke mostly meets his end by getting shot. He has been a bullet recipient in dozens of movies including Killshot (quite obvious), The Courier, Passion Play, F.T.W, Stormbreaker, Fall Time, and Domino.”
7 Nicolas Cage - 32
Nicolas Cage is one of the most famous names on our list and he’s known for National Treasure along with its sequel, but those are pretty much the only movies he didn’t die in. Just like Mickey Rourke, he’s had 32 on-screen deaths, but his are more unique (and cringe-worthy) than getting shot by a gun. According to ScreenRant, “In The Wicker Man, a group of women in a cult covered his face with a tiny ‘cage’ containing hundreds of bees. In Vampire's Kiss, he was stabbed with a stake and in Leaving Las Vegas he drank to his death. Not to forget Kick-Ass where he was burnt pretty bad. We get the feeling that so long as Cage continues making movies, the messy death statistics will rise even further.”
6 John Hurt – 42
It’s ironic that his name is John Hurt. Even if he doesn’t get hurt in real life, most of his characters do on screen. And some of his characters have to go through really cruel, painful deaths. According to ScreenRant, “His name doesn't do him any favors. Screenwriters always do their best to hurt John Hurt's characters… The most gruesome one came in Alien where he was the first victim. He got his chest torn apart by an alien creature. Even hardcore horror fans found it painful to watch that scene.”
5 Dennis Hopper – 42
Dennis Hopper had 42 on-screen deaths during his career and sadly, he died in real life in 2010 after years of being a successful actor. He had a very hard life, but that might have been the reason why he was so great at portraying characters on screen. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Maybe it was because of all the real-life drama that Hopper was so appreciated as a bad-*ss on screen. In the 1970s, he was known for playing the troubled, disaffected man, which typecast him, but also played to his strengths as an actor.”
4 Vincent Price – 44
Vincent Price is an actor who was popular decades ago, but he’s still very famous for having more than 40 on-screen deaths. He starred in his movie in 1938, but his first on-screen death didn’t happen until 1939 when he was in Tower of London. According to Cinemorgue Wiki, Vincent’s very first on-screen death was being “drowned in a vat of wine by Boris Karloff after being knocked unconscious by Basil Rathbone.” He worked as an actor all the way until he passed away in 1993.
3 Lance Henriksen - 53
Lance Henriksen has died more than 50 times in movies, including animated ones. His most well-known role is Kerchak from Tarzan and even though he wasn’t physically in the movie, his character still died in it. His live-action on-screen deaths are more gruesome though. According to ScreenRant, “His most memorable death came courtesy of Jean-Claude Van Damme in Hard Target when a grenade was shoved into his trousers… His characters have also met their ends in Scream 3, The Terminator, Alien vs. Predator, and Pumpkinhead.”
2 Christopher Lee – 66
Christopher Lee is another very famous actor on our list who was known for his roles in the Lord of the Rings series and Star Wars series. “Lee often played the villain, from Count Dracula to Count Dooku, from Rasputin to Saruman. And since the bad guy usually dies on film, Lee racked up at least 60 deaths in cinema,” according to Neatorama. Sadly, he died in real life in 2015 at the age of 93.
Related: Was Natalie Portman's Role In 'Star Wars' Her Worst On-Screen Performance?
1 Danny Trejo – 71
Danny Trejo is officially the actor with the most on-screen deaths. Christopher Lee was at the top for awhile, but Danny beat him now since he’s had so many deaths in movies the past few years. According to Fox News, “Buzzbingo tallied the on-screen mortality rate of the world’s top actors using IMDb and Cinemorgue to determine that 75-year-old (77-year-old now) actor Danny Trejo has the most on-screen deaths of anyone in Hollywood history.”
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