Ray Winstone has revealed he auditioned for a small Star Wars role, but it "didn't go well" because he showed up "pissed" to the audition with George Lucas. The Black Widow star almost played Ruwee Naberrie, the father of Natalie Portman's Padmé Amidala, who first appeared in the prequel Revenge of the Sith.
"It didn't go well," he admitted recently (via Far Out Magazine). "Had words and that was that. I've worked for George since, and he was fine. He didn’t remember. Or if he did, he didn't take it to heart."
"I was pissed anyway," he continued, "I'd been out all night, and I turned up, and I knew I was wrong for the part as soon as I walked in, but instead of saying that, he [Lucas] relayed the message to me through someone else, and I took umbrage at that."
The actor recalled that Lucas yawned all the way through his audition, probably because of "jet lag", and was notably silent afterward, so Winstone remembers saying: "Why don't we both have a 15-minute sleep and then I'll fuck off?"
As we know now, he didn't get the role, with the team hiring Australian actor Graeme Blundell for the part instead. Winstone has no regrets over it, though, as "that sort of film would bore the arse off me, all that bluescreen work".
Despite his recent comments, the actor has worked several times with special effects since then, including the MCU's Black Widow, where he played the villain Dreykov. A couple of months ago, he shared his frustrating experience with the film's reshoots.
"I come home after finishing the job and get a call saying we need to do some reshoots. I say: How many scenes? [Cate Shortland, director] says, 'All of them.' So I said she should recast [the role], but I was contracted, so I had to do it," he said, recalling how he "couldn't do it".
For more, check our guide on all the upcoming movies in cinemas in 2025 and beyond.
