Ray Winstone - How Sexy Beast Taught Me To Fear Sir Ben Kingsley

The ‘Daddy’ of movie tough guys, Ray Winstone was stunned when Sir Ben Kingsley was cast as Sexy Beast big bad Don Logan. He was more shocked still when he saw what the Gandhi star did with the part.

“I have a knack for it.” That’s how Ray Winstone responds if you ask him why he so often plays villains. From the snooker ball-wielding Carlin in Alan Clarke’s Scum to the Leonardo DiCaprio-battering Mr French in The Departed, Raymond Andrew Winstone is the man you call if your movie’s in need of a brutal bad guy.

This being so, it seems odd that when first-time director Jonathan Glazer offered Winstone his pick of the roles in his crime thriller Sexy Beast, the Hackney–born actor chose to play the relatively tame Gary ‘Gal’ Dove. “Gal was a role I’d never really attempted before,” he explains. “As an actor you’re always looking for a new challenge, a chance to show people what you’re capable of. I wanted to stretch myself so I chose Gal over Don.”