Ray Winstone, renowned actor famous for his tough-guy roles in Sexy Beast and Nil by Mouth, shared that he still feels like a “fish out of water”.

Winstone, BAFTA-nominated for That Summer! and BAFTA-winner for Nil by Mouth, told the audience at a special Life in Pictures event that his roles “are all a challenge.”

“I just feel sometimes I shouldn’t be in this game, you know?,” he said.

“That’s my problem and something that challenges me every time I go to work. And sometimes I get embarrassed about the arty side of things because I’m a tough guy from East London.”

A fearless, uncompromising talent

Winstone was a schoolboy boxing champion and says, “because of the boxing, I found I was never scared when I walked on stage.” This fearlessness defines his career.

His first major role was in Alan Clarke’s controversial 1977 television borstal drama Scum. Banned by the BBC, it was remade as a film two years later. Winstone’s explosive performance is an astonishing portrayal of youth violence on screen.

From there he was a regular face on both the big and small screen. He made a mark in cult hit Quadrophenia, and appeared in popular 1980s TV shows like Robin Hood, Minder and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

From borstal to Hollywood

One of his key roles is as the vicious and uncompromising Ray in brutal family drama Nil by Mouth. He believes that director Gary Oldman is “the best director I’ve ever worked with.”

Over the last ten years, leading Hollywood directors have been eager to make use of Winstone’s immense talents. He’s starred in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Darren Aronofsky’s Noah.

One of the most interesting and well-regarded actors of his generation, Winstone says that he’s still got plenty to prove. He told the BAFTA audience: “If you think you’re ever satisfied with what you do, there’s something wrong with you.”

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