Ray Winstone
Ray Winstone
Raymond Andrew "Ray" Winstoneis an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "hard man" roles, beginning with his role as Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and Will Scarlet in the television series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over actor, and has recently branched out into film production. He has appeared in films such as Cold Mountain, Nil By Mouth, King Arthur, The Magic Roundabout, The Departed, Beowulf, Indiana...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth19 February 1957
I'm a lucky boy! I could be holding a gun in Afghanistan. There's boys out there doing what they've got to do, and there's people digging holes, and there's people driving buses. And there's nothing wrong with that.
At acting school people didn't speak like me. It was all received pronunciation - 'ow now brown cow.'
Well, you create your own persona, don't you? And you have to live with that. But the people that I meet, they don't think that I'm a lunatic. And if they do, then that's OK, because it means that I'm playing the parts all right.
It's not hard to be sexy when you're standing in front of Angelina Jolie or Robin Wright Penn. They're two of the most beautiful women in the world and two of the finest actresses. I think that if you're with people who are good in your profession they become sexy because they're good at what they do. I enjoyed being 6ft 6ins, having an eight pack and a long todger, you know? If I fold mine in half it's the same length!
I think I became an actor because I couldn't sing.
You do a job like mine because you love the job, not because it's going to make you famous.
There is something about silence and being in the middle of nowhere that is really very attractive.
I wouldn't change a thing in my life, even if I could. What you go through makes you who you are and that's fine.
By being with my kids. I'm like a lion who hunts and comes home to be looked after and sleep. I think girls tend to be drawn towards their dad. I'd love to have a son, but I have three kids who are great - three geezer birds and that's all I need to worry about.
Almost all politicians drive me insane. These people are supposed to be looking after us. What I hate is that we don't speak up enough as a nation and take on the government.
I had a very real fear of spiders until one bit me. I got bitten by a redback spider in Australia and I've never been frightened of them since. Maybe I've turned into Spider-man.
I think the difference is that Angelina didn't need any CGI enhancement and I did! You can't really think about some things too much, you just get on with it and do it. It's about the way you move and the way you sound.
But then when you go through the process of making the film and you sit in the cinema two years later and your jaw hits the floor, it's quite sad in a way because you're looking at yourself - facially anyway - and see the way you looked when you were 20.
Sometimes you also work with people who don't explain or express to you what they're actually looking for from the shot but you haven't got that problem with this because whatever you're going to do, whether it's good or bad, will get picked up. So, in that way I guess it's pure cinema.