Ray Winstone bares all to RAF News
04 January 2010
When it comes to the Hollywood A-list, Brit actor Ray Winstone is up there with the best of them.
By Tracey Allen
Well known for playing hard man roles, he’s starred with big names from both sides of the Atlantic, including Matt Damon and Leonard Di Caprio in The Departed, Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins in Last Orders, Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast and Harrison Ford in the most recent Indiana Jones film.
And Ray has shown he’s not afraid of a challenge away from the big screen – last year he spent three days in Afghanistan visiting the troops including 34 Squadron RAF Regiment. He even went to the front line.
He told RAF News: “Some of the finest people I have ever met were at Camp Bastion. Being there was an eye-opener, it was a great education for me – I actually can’t wait to go back.
“I was well looked after, of course – I went out from Bastion with a patrol looking for mines. I didn’t have to do it but I thought ‘if I don’t do this, I will regret it for the rest of my life. I m really pleased that I did it, for myself as much as for the boys and girls out there.”
“I’m going to talk to a few people I know in the music business about going out there to entertain the troops.”
He won’t reveal any names, but rumour has it he’s friends with Paul Weller…
Ray’s family didn’t have strong military connections but as a boy growing up in Plaistow, east London, he became interested in reading about military history at school – and he loves aircraft.
“ I’ve always loved planes, I live in Essex between Duxford and Northfield and when I’m home in the summer I can lie in the garden and watch the Hurricanes and Spitfires from the airshows flying ovehead.”
He recently returned from New Zealand where he was making a movie with the working title of Tracker, also starring Temuera Morrison from Once for Warriors. Set just after the Boer War, Ray plays a South African who goes to New Zealand as a rebel fighter.
He said: “My character, Arjan, starts to work for the British who killed his family – it’s a blinding film.”
Notoriously hard-working, Ray has three films coming out this monrth, including Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll, the life story of singer Ian Dury – Ray plays Ian’s father Bill.
For an actor at the pinnacle of his profession, Ray’s remarkably modest and down-to-earth. He plays the lead in 44 Inch Chest, out later this month, but is quick to describe it as “an ensemble piece” and is full of praise for his co-stars “Johnnie” Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Ian McShane and Joanne Whalley – “a great cast.”
He said: “I play Colin Diamond who loves his wife too much. She tells him she’s met someone else and he has a nervous breakdown on the spot. His friends kidnap the lover, a French waiter – it’s a revenge thing and it’s a role right up my street.” (Click here for a preview.)
He’s also starred with Mickey Rourke in the yet to be released 13, about Russian roulette, and flies to LA this month to promote Edge of Darkness, starring Mel Gibson as homicide detective Thomas Craven. Ray plays CIA agent Darius Jedburgh, a role rumoured to be first earmarked for Robert de Niro. One director dubbed Ray “the British de Niro”, an accolade he said was “very, very flattering. He is such a wonderful actor, but the tribute is probably a bit over the top to be honest with you.”
And Ray has only good things to say about his superstar colleagues: “When they’re at the top of their game they are usually really nice guys and girls. They have nothing to prove – they’re at peace with themselves.
“I really liked working with Harrison Ford – he’s very unassuming – De Caprio is a really good kid, and Matt Damon.”
Despite working regularly with Oscar winners, Ray hasn’t lost touch with his roots. A big West Ham fan, he watches home games with old friends whenever he can – he said being a Hammers supporter is “painful” at the moment.
As for work in 2010, he’s got no specific plans. He said: “Every day kind of surprises me. You accept a job, filming starts and at first you think ‘I’m not sure I can pull this off’ – it keeps you on your toes.”
One thing’s for certain – he’s sure to be in demand.
See our Entertainments section in the next issue of RAF News for what’s on Ray’s iPod.
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