Ray Winstone



"Ray Winstone is an excellent British actor who tends to play working-class London psychotics. Even when he's the good guy - he was Will Scarlet in a long-running Robin Hood TV show here, and portrayed a hero journalist in Tank Mailing - he's usually fucking terrifying. Only once in (my) recent memory has he played against type in film, as the scared safecracker in Sexy Beast. See, everyone first saw Ray Winstone as a teenager whipping other kids to death with a pool ball in a sock, screaming WHO'S THE DADDY NOW? WHO'S THE FUCKING DADDY NOW? I'M THE DADDY NOW! He's a force of nature, a thing driven by beer and cigarettes and kicking fucking heads in. He's got a chubby face and little boy's eyes that, in the moment, go black and dead like shark's eyes. Reduces London English to a series of grunts and yelps. He is, in fact, The Greatest Living Londoner."

- Warren Ellis, preface to Switchblade Honey

Born in 1957 in Hackney, London, Ray Winstone has been acting since 1957.

You'll recognise him when you hear him, usually. He is usually found playing Cockneys and does a good London Gangster. However, don't let that fool you. He's a terrific actor who can definitely go outside his usual type.

Has three kids and is a big West Ham supporter.

A former boxer, and reputedly a rather good one, and therefore inherently Badass. Roger Ebert is also quite a big Ray Winstone Fan Boy. -

His notable roles:

 * Scum as Carlin and the source of the above mentioned "WHO'S THE DADDY NOW? WHO'S THE FUCKING DADDY NOW? I'M THE DADDY NOW!"
 * Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
 * Beowulf (2007) as Beowulf.
 * The Departed.
 * The 2006 BBC (non-musical) take on Sweeney Todd, the titular role.
 * The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as Mr. Beaver.
 * A 2003 drama about Henry VIII. Guess what role he played.
 * That's right, a Cockney Henry VIII.
 * Robin of Sherwood as Will Scarlet.
 * The Proposition, a good Australian Western film.
 * Sexy Beast, in which he had the rare distinction of being terrorised by Gandhi Ben Kingsley, who also played the title character in the biopic Gandhi.
 * Nil by Mouth as Ray.
 * Quadrophenia as Kevin, the Rocker.
 * Killzone 3 as Admiral Orlock.