Worst To Best: Ray Winstone
From gobby gangster to big softie
King Arthur (2004)
The Movie: It’s Keira again, this time the young actress taking on the role of Guinevere in the legendary adap. Winstone pitches up as Bors, one of King Arthur’s knights.
Winstone Grit: There are shades of Winstone’s role in Robin Of Sherwood here as he shouts and swigs beer for all he’s worth – which is just as entertaining now as it was 20 years ago.
Fanny And Elvis (1999)
The Movie: Frothy Brit comedy in which Yorkshire-based writer Kate (Kerry Fox) is disturbed to discover that her biological clock is well and truly ticking – on the same day that he husband walks out the door.
Winstone Grit: Winstone trades in his grumbly menace act and proves he can handle comedy with surprising deftness. This one’s a winner.
Love, Honour And Obey (2000)
The Movie: Ray Kreed (Winstone) heads up North London’s most prolific criminal gang – a group of guys more interested in pissing about than actually doing any damage. Until Jonny (Johnny Lee Miller) turns up, that is.
Winstone Grit: Cuddly he ain’t, but Winstone finds a fantastic balance between intimidating mob boss and comedy cracks.
Agnes Brown (1999)
The Movie: Anjelica Huston stars as Agnes Brown, whose husband dies unexpectedly, forcing her to do anything she can to raise the funds to support her seven children in 1960s Dublin.
Winstone Grit: Winstone pitches up as loan shark Mr Billy, a ruthless lender you better not cross. The Irish accents a bit dodgy, though.
Tube Tales (1999)
The Movie: Winstone joins the likes of Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher and Kelly Macdonald for real-life stories from the London underground. He appears in the segment ‘My Father The Liar’.
Winstone Grit: Winstone’s a stand-out here, directed by Bob Hoskins and lighting up one of the film’s strongest segments.
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010)
The Movie: Another one with Andy Serkis, who plays Ian Dury, a polio-stricken youngster who becomes one of the defining punk-rock icons of the 1970s.
Winstone Grit: He appears in little more than a cameo, but Winstone reins in the grit to deliver a warm performance as Dury’s dad. Ah, bless.
Tracker (2010)
The Movie: Afrikaner Arjan van Diemen (Winstone) hunts down a man accused of murdering a soldier. When he captures him, though Diemen discovers the man is innocent…
Winstone Grit: Winstone may struggle with another accent (here Afrikaans), but he delivers a fine turn as a gruff tough guy. The guy’s still got it.
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Everything (2004)
The Movie: Richard (Winstone) pitches up at a prostitute’s pad, but only appears to want to talk. What exactly is he after?
Winstone Grit: Winstone delivers the sharp dialogue with typical verve, and effortlessly keeps his character’s motives in the shadows.
Snow White And The Huntsman (2012)
The Movie: Rival to other Snow White movie Mirror Mirror , Huntsman has Kristen Stewart as the milky one, Charlize Theron as the evil queen, and Chris Hemsworth the axe-wielding huntsman. Winstone’s one of eight dwarves.
Winstone Grit: A gritty dwarf? With a fantastic hair-do and some nifty battle gear, Winstone manages to turn a cute little guy into a believably gutsy warrior. Impressive.
Beowulf (2007)
The Movie: At the cusp of the CGI-mo-cap revolution, Winstone dons the dots to play the eponymous blade-wielder – and gets himself a nice set of CGI abs for his efforts.
Winstone Grit: Equipped with a brand new bod, Winstone gruffs his lines admirably, convincing as a CGI action hero. Phwoar.
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
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