Dad of action

Interview | John Millar

Hollywood casting agents may see Ray Winstone
as the perfect hard-man, but as the British star of
the new Indiana Jones adventure film tells voyager,
his favourite real-life role is being a father

AT 50-SOMETHING, BRITISH actor Ray
Winstone might seem an unlikely choice to
become an action movie star who shares
screen credits with some of the biggest and
sexiest names in Tinseltown.

And yet a glance at his recent screen roles
reveals that the burly actor is exactly that. In fact, when
he arrives to give this interview, it is a slight surprise to find
that for an actor known for his dominating presence, he is
merely 5ft 10”. For he was beefy and bearded as the gritty
but good knight Bors opposite Keira Knightley and Clive
Owen in King Arthur, the re-imagining of The Knights Of The
Round Tale legend; he played a gangster alongside Jack
Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon in Martin
Scorsese’s Oscar-winning The Departed, and more recently a
computer-enhanced mythical hero in the saga of Beowulf,
who battled a bewitching figure played by Angelina
Jolie. Now, he’s rolling up his sleeves and standing
shoulder-to-shoulder with Hollywood’s leading man
Harrison Ford as they take on allcomers in Indiana
Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

alt="Early, gritty roles in Scum and Nil By Mouth">
Little wonder, then, that when the
Hackney-born actor breezes into
the room and eases himself into
the big, comfortable chair that
is centre stage in a suite at The
Dorchester hotel in London – hair
swept back, shirt unbuttoned
at the neck and wearing a designer label suit – he has
the look of a man who is happy with life. And given that
he’s rubbing shoulders with the cream of Hollywood in
the most keenly anticipated of this year’s summer movie
blockbusters, so he should.

Yet Winstone is anything but complacent. “I thought the
chance to play action roles had passed me by,” he says about
his role in this latest Indiana Jones instalment, in which he
plays Indy’s sidekick, Mac. “So it was great because there is
going to come a time when I can’t do these things.”

alt="Winstone a reputation as an on-screen hard-man">

As tends to be the case with a movie directed by
Steven Spielberg, the fourth Indiana Jones adventure is
shrouded in secrecy, and Winstone, as you would expect,
is toeing the party line. “I cannot tell you anything about
it,” he says teasingly, a smile spreading across his face.
“They said: ‘You have got a licence and you can kill
whoever you tell!’”

However, his enjoyment at making the movie is palpable,
as he adds: “It was a fantastic experience. Steven Spielberg is
directing and as soon as you see the first shot you know you
are in a Spielberg movie.” What about Harrison Ford? “He is
a darling… a chap,” says Winstone. “He is as fit as a butcher’s
dog. Cate Blanchett is in it too and she is the greatest actor
in the world. It was full-on filming, with no days off, and we
were on location in Hawaii and New Mexico.”

alt="King Arthur heralded his more recent appearances in films about heroic legends">
He may be economical with any details about the film, but
Winstone does reveal that he had to shrug off an inconvenient
little injury when he hurt his hamstring on the set.

“As I was running down some steps I could feel the
hamstring going, so I was left looking after it for the next
three weeks,” he says ruefully. You get the impression that he
was having such a good time being part of the Indiana Jones
team that not even broken bones would have prevented him
from taking his place beside Ford in the big-screen romp. And
although he is self-deprecating about his status as an unlikely
action hero, it also seems that, all things considered, Winstone
is in pretty good shape.

“I had a full medical the other week and I went there
feeling really ill, because you get paranoid at 50,” admits the
actor, who celebrated his 51st birthday in February. “The
game is up and every little pain feels like a worry. I have
a good heart, strong lungs… I don’t know how,”
he says, glancing pointedly at the cigarette
packet on the table in front of him.

alt="To create the warrior Beowulf, Winstone’s movements were first recorded and then animated into a digital character">
Nonetheless, Winstone agrees that the
bumps and bruises are an obvious price
to pay for being cast in big-budget
action films. But he’s not complaining.
First of all, he’s having too good a
time, and perhaps more importantly,
he’s a fighter. The action star
started boxing as a 12 yearold
and quickly proved to be
a winner, becoming a threetimes
London Schoolboy
Champion, fighting for
England and winning dozens
of trophies.

Another passion was
football – or more specifically,
West Ham United. “I would
never throw away my West
Ham pennant,” he says,
turning almost watery-eyed
as he recalls seeing his Hammers heroes play their part in
England’s winning World Cup in 1966. “My dad took me to all
the World Cup games at Wembley. I was nine.” More than 40
years on, Winstone plays the occasional game for a showbiz
side and claims one of the proudest moments of his life was
when he took part in a charity match in which he lined up
against his all-time hero, the former West Ham and England
World Cup captain Sir Bobby Moore.

alt="The Hackney native joined the major league in The Departed, starring alongside Leonardo
DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson">
The inspiration for Winstone’s future career also came
courtesy of his father, who used to take him along to the
local cinema. So what was he most inspired by? “It was films
like A Man For All Seasons – no action, just a brilliant script,”
he says. “Or Becket, with Peter O’Toole. Me and my mate
would go and see that. Then there was Lawrence Of Arabia or
Zulu and [the 1958 Kirk Douglas movie] The Vikings – those
are the sort of films I was brought up watching.”

When he got to the stage where he stepped in front of the
cameras himself, Winstone displayed the same sort of true
grit that he showed in the boxing ring. He made his mark
in productions that ranged from the controversial borstal
film Scum and to appearances in several popular television
dramas, such as Robin Of Sherwood – in which he played Will
Scarlett – Minder, The Bill, Bergerac and Casualty. A significant
career landmark was the 1997 Gary Oldman film Nil By
Mouth, in which Winstone revealed his depth and power
as an actor, and earned a Bafta nomination in the process.
Hollywood soon came knocking, leading to parts in epics
such as 2003’s Cold Mountain, in which he appeared with
Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger and Jude Law.

alt="The actor, dad and husband with his family, from left, Jaime, Elaine, Ellie and Lois">
It seems likely, too, that Winstone may be following his
Spielberg turn with a film remake of the classic 1970s’
television police drama The Sweeney, starring as Detective
Inspector Jack Regan – the cop whose style is to punch first
and ask questions afterwards – in the role originally made
famous by the late John Thaw.

But success hasn’t tempted Winstone, whose parents ran
a fruit and vegetable business in Enfield, to stray from his
roots. He still lives outside London with Elaine, his wife of
28 years, and their three daughters: Lois, 25, Jaime, 22, and
Ellie, who is soon to be seven. Not surprisingly, perhaps, he
says that being a parent is his favourite role: “Having kids is
a full-time occupation. I love it,” he says. “I would have loads
more if the wife’d let me.”

alt="Cheering on his beloved West Ham United football club">
Like any doting dad, Winstone takes delight
in reeling off how well his daughters are
doing: Lois’ band, the brazenly named Crack
Village, played last year at Glastonbury and
she has just made a vampire movie. And his
daughter Jaime, who is also following in
her father’s footsteps, has appeared
in the acclaimed movie drama
Kidulthood – and has recently been
the focus of media attention for
her relationship with Alfie Allen
(brother of singer Lily).

Having a third child – Ellie –
later in life is also something
that the actor recommends. “It
is like she has three mothers,
in a way,” he says of his
youngest-born. “The other
two said to us: ‘You are having
another kid – do not think we are going to be built-in
babysitters’. And, of course, they do babysit, but we did get
that little talking to, after their initial shock of being told we
were having another kid.”

The actor was present at the birth of each of his
daughters, but there was an extra-special element to the
birth of the youngest member of the family.

alt="Back after 19 years, Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.">




“Lois and Jaime were both there for the birth of Ellie,”
he says. “It was not something that I had thought of
beforehand – it just happened on the spur of the moment.
The doctor was going to ask them to leave the room but
I said to let them stay. That was a beautiful moment for
me, Elaine and my kids. I think it might have put them off
having children, though,” he jokes. “But I am looking forward
to being a grandad. I like that idea, but there is no rush.”

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is
released in cinemas on 22 May