Worst To Best: Ray Winstone

Last Orders (2001)

The Movie: A group of friends – among them Ray (Bob Hoskins) and Vince (Winstone) – set out on a mission to scatter their friend Jack’s (Michael Caine) ashes while reminiscing about their time with him.

Winstone Grit: Stoic and mumbly, Winstone’s not so much gritty as withdrawn and bolshy here.

That Summer (1979)

The Movie: Torquay-set drama in which Steve (Winstone) is about to compete in a swimming competition in which he’s up against a Scottish guy (Jon Morrison).

Winstone Grit: Even back then, Winstone was playing down-and-out outsiders (Steve has just been released from jail). Not much happens in the film itself, but Winstone gives a decent early performance that promises great things to come.

Sweeney Todd (2006)

The Movie: Winstone shaves his head and takes up a sharp blade to play the demon barber of Fleet Street in this BBC production - just a year before Johnny Depp did it.

Winstone Grit: With that grimace and set jaw, you really believe this guy could slit your throat and get away with it (mostly).

Bouncer (2002)

The Movie: A 10-minute short starring Paddy Considine as ‘Knife Man’ and Winstone as Dave, a bouncer who narrates his experiences on the door of a London nightclub.

Winstone Grit: Expressionless and monolithic, Winstone’s like an immovable slate of granite as the bouncer, letting his narration do the talking.

Macbeth On The Estate (1997)

The Movie: A TV movie inspired by The Bard’s play, which – as the title suggests – relocates the story of Macbeth to a modern day setting rife with drugs.

Winstone Grit: Winstone pitches up as Duncan, and cleverly walks the moral fence – did he deserve his fate? We won’t answer that one for you.

Henry VIII (2003)

The Movie: A two-part TV movie that has Winstone popping on the crown as Henry VIII and taking us through the king’s 38-year rule. Emily Blunt also appears.

Winstone Grit: As a cockney king, Winstone cracks jokes and is obviously having a laugh, and his is one of the most unusual takes on our most famous monarch. In Winstone’s hands, Henry VIII’s a gold-wearing gangster. Sounds about right.

Cold Mountain (2003)

The Movie: Oscar-winning historical drama from director Anthony Minghella, with Jude Law as Inman, a wounded soldier who’s attempting to get home to his love, Ada (Nicole Kidman).

Winstone Grit: Snarly and gnarly, Winstone plays an impenitent lawman who’ll stop at nothing to reinforce his authority. Terrifying.

Hugo (2011)

The Movie: Martin Scorsese’s first foray in children’s films, and an ode to cinema’s origins, with Asa Butterly as a young boy living in a Paris train station.

Winstone Grit: He’s only in the film for two minutes as an alcoholic watchmaker, but Winstone fully embodies the character – he does in two minutes what many actors fail to do in two hours.

Rango (2011)

The Movie: More mike work as Winstone voices Bad Bill in Gore Verbinski’s quirky animated Western. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp plays the titular Rango, a chameleon who becomes the unlikely champion of a rundown town in the Wild West.

Winstone Grit: Winstone’s unmistakable tones are the perfect fit for Bad Bill, a slithery nuisance who benefits greatly from the actor’s brusque voice work.

Quadrophenia (1979)

The Movie: Jimmy (Phil Daniels) rebels against his parents, taking drugs and partying up in a search for hedonistic highs. The Who and High Numbers provide the soaring score.

Winstone Grit: Almost unrecognisable with a quiff and leather jacket, Winstone plays a softie bruiser with a wicked sense of humour.