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Stoic and mumbly, Winstone’s not so much gritty as withdrawn and bolshy here.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

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.