For most moviegoers, the name Sean Bean is associated with Boromir from The Lord of the Rings. Those who have seen at least a few movies starring this actor couldn’t shake the feeling that Bean’s characters tend to die a lot. It’s hard to believe, but since Sean Bean’s debut role in 1986, the actor has died on screen more than 20 times. But there are movies where Mr. Bean doesn’t die, so let’s take a look at those instead!
1. Black Beauty (1994)
In Black Beauty, Sean plays a farmer who’s taking care of a beautiful horse. There’s drama and tension, and he almost drowns at a certain point, but Beauty saves him. The movie is a big meh unless you really like horses.
2. When Saturday Comes (1996)
Did you know that Sean is a big fan of Sheffield United FC? Yes, that’s a British football/soccer team that has many devoted followers, including the director of When Saturday Comes — Maria Giese. The worst thing that could happen to Bean’s character was foul play from the opposing team, but he’d certainly survive that.
3. Ronin (1998)
Here’s our first action flick of the day — Ronin. In this movie, Bean plays an ex-SecOps soldier recruited for a very dangerous mission. According to the reports, almost 80 cars were demolished during filming, and somehow, Sean was not in any of them.
4. Troy (2004)
Twenty years after his debut role, Sean Bean’s luck allowed him to survive the events of Troy, where he portrayed Odysseus, but for some reason, everyone only remembers Brad Pitt’s Achilles. Fun fact, Achilles, as you probably know from Greek mythology, died a stupid death while his pal Odysseus managed to stay alive.
5. National Treasure (2004)
In the very same year, Bean’s survival instincts kicked in again, and this time he was playing the bad guy opposite Nick Cage. Characters rarely come out alive after getting into a tussle with Cage, so Sean Bean not getting stung by a bunch of bees is an actual miracle.
6. Flight Plan (2005)
Is it possible to lose one’s child on a plane while it’s up in the air? Let’s ask Jodie Foster, the mother of a kid who disappeared 30k feet in the air! Did she jump out? Was she kidnapped? Did aliens do this? Now the captain, played by Sean Bean, will have to snoop around and find out. Without dying, obviously.
7. Silent Hill 1&2 (2006, 2012)
Ramping up from action films straight into the horror genre, we have Sean Bean living to see another day in Silent Hill and the sequel too. In the first movie, he embarks on an adventure to find his wife and daughter in Silent Hill, but they only reunite in the sequel. We’ll never understand how he managed to skip all those monstrosities.
8. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Going back to Greek mythology, Sean Bean played Zeus in the first Percy Jackson film. This may have been the safest character to portray for him. In the end, Zeus is a freaking Olympian god! Immortal and all-powerful.
9. Pixels (2015)
Starring side-by-side with Peter Dinklage, aka Tyrion from Game of Thrones, Sean Bean played a goofy army general who tried to save the world from these pixelated monsters. He was very close to being annihilated, but Adam Sandler came to the rescue.
10. Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Right after the hot mess called Pixels, Sean Bean appeared in a different kind of dumpster fire — Jupiter Ascending. In this very ambitious yet poorly put-together project, he played somewhat of a bad guy with a tragic backstory and potential to change. Thankfully, Bean didn’t die in the end and even had a small redemption arc.
