Ray Winstone, who has played the London hard man and more over his career, shared insight into his career, including working with Angelina Jolie, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Gary Oldmam, during a masterclass at the 31st edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival on Tuesday before receiving the honorary Heart of Sarajevo award in recognition of his “remarkable acting career and exceptional contributions to the art of cinema.”
Asked about the state of the movie business in the social media age, Winstone said: “It affects your approach, I guess, because it’s all about sending tickets, isn’t it? It’s like anything today, it becomes a business,” he said. “We see what’s happening in Hollywood with Marvel and all that kind of stuff, the franchises. And we love watching those films. They are fun, but it kind of takes away from your cultural films, which are best for the actors, which are really active parts. It’s probably getting more and more difficult to do that.”
Continued Winstone: “As for social media, if you’re not on social media now, you’re sometimes not even considered to be in a movie, because they want the fan base to come with that. ‘You have to go on Instagram,’ you know. But it’s part and parcel of the job that you do now. Now, whether that’s a good thing or not, I don’t know. But if it brings people into the cinema and it creates more jobs and more films are being made.”
Winstone concluded: “But I’d like to see much more, I guess, cultural films being made. I think it’s where the best cinema is.”
The boxer-turned-actor, 68, first made a name for himself on the silver screen when he played a juvenile delinquent in Alan Clarke’s 1979 drama Scum, followed by his portrayal of tough-guy mod Kevin in Franc Roddam’s Quadrophenia that same year. With those and his later roles, such as Gary Oldman’s Nil by Mouth (1997) and Jonathan Glazer’s Sexy Beast (2000), Winstone earned raves for combining muscle and intensity with vulnerability.
”I had done a school play because I fancied a girl in the play, and I had enjoyed it,” he shared. “Boxing teaches you to respect an opponent. … You rely on the actors, the director, the crew.”
Asked about the two versions of his first film Scum, directed by Alan Clark, the star offered: “The first version is actually a better film, because we were younger, and it’s a film about young people…and how they treat each other.” He lauded Clark as getting good work out of him.
He also discussed playing a singer together with musicians from The Clash and Sex Pistols in Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains and “growing old together” with them, sharing that in his family, he grew up with singing songs, including Frank Sinatra.
Asked about starring in Gary Oldman’s directing debut Nil by Mouth. Gary is probably of our our best cinema and stage actors” and had written a script. “I like films about social issues,” including “deprived areas” and drugs. “I’m from a working-class family,” so he was familiar with such themes. Oldman is “probably the best director I have worked with” because he knows acting.
The film is about abuse but he trusted all creatives on it and he was able to leave the violence and pain on set, while The War Zone with Tim Roth, about child abuse, “hurt,” Winstone shared.
Discussing Sexy Beast, he lauded Ben Kingsley’s “range” from playing Gandhi to a psychopath in this film.
Winstone shared that he likes to play the bad guys as good guys and vice versa to make violence and the like more impactful.
Audiences also know Winstone as a mob enforcer in Martin Scorsese and Jack Nicholson’s The Departed (2006) and, more recently, as the imprisoned drug boss Bobby Glass in Guy Ritchie’s Netflix hit series The Gentlemen.
Asked about his work with Scorsese, the actor said he met the director in a London hotel and was supposed to play a policeman, suggesting to the man “I call Marty now” that he could play a different role. Scorsese liked his coat and asked if he could wear it for the role, which he did.
How was work with Steven Spielberg on one of the Indiana Jones films? “Spielberg was great,” he replied. “It’s amazing when he makes films how he shoots, he films differently.” He said he loved standing behind Spielberg and Scorsese watching them do their magic.
Clark was the director who likely influenced his acting most, Winstone shared, saying he learned all the basics from him and took his guidance as law.
A fan in the audience asked the star what it was like to work with Jolie in Beowulf. “Angelina was fantastic. What an actress the girl is,” he said. “You know, she’s not just beautiful. She can really do the business and is a good kisser as well.”
Which of the many characters or professions he has played did he like the least? “The pedophile,” he said right away.
Asked about the best advice he ever received, Winstone said it was a criticism that his eyes looked dead in a scene, sharing that he learned right then and there that much of acting comes from and through the eyes.
What’s next for him? ”I’m doing some more of The Gentlemen,” Winstone said in discussing current work, adding that he has also shot a movie about English snooker player Jimmy White.
Over his career, Winstone has also voiced Mr. Beaver in the 2005 fantasy epic The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and appeared in such big-budget blockbusters as Black Widow and as Beowulf in Robert Zemeckis’ 2007 animated action film Beowulf.
“He is an actor who has captivated audiences for five decades with his great talent and undeniable presence,” said Sarajevo Film Festival director Jovan Marjanovic. “With honesty and intensity that resonate far beyond the screen, he has given us many unforgettable characters.”
Winstone also captivated the masterclass with his humor, at one point sharing that he was feeling the red wine he had the night before. “The local wine is really good,” he said to laughter.
