Overview of SmartLess with Ray Winstone
In this episode, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett chat with British actor Ray Winstone, who brings his trademark grit, humor, and plainspoken philosophy to a wide-ranging conversation. The discussion covers everything from travel misery and wedding etiquette to boxing, acting, aging, family life, and the making of Sexy Beast and The Gentlemen. Winstone comes across as tough but thoughtful, with a deep appreciation for working-class roots, instinctive acting, and the value of staying grounded.
Key Topics Discussed
Weddings, dancing, and social discomfort
- The hosts open by talking about weddings, especially destination weddings, which they agree can feel like an inconvenience.
- They joke about dancing at parties, self-consciousness, and how different they are about letting loose.
- Ray admits he’s not a big fan of weddings either, especially when they require travel.
Fitness, aging, and getting older
- The conversation turns to exercise and how long a workout really needs to be.
- The hosts joke about aging bodies, water weight, and the realities of training less intensely than they used to.
- Ray talks about getting older, the toll of physical work, and how he now chooses to be more sensible about his health.
Flying, travel, and life on the road
- Ray says he prefers driving to flying because airports feel like a punishment and he often gets sick after flights.
- He’s calling in from Malta, where he’s working.
- He also mentions that his wife appreciates having him away for stretches of work, though family responsibilities still keep things busy.
Ray Winstone’s Background and Career
Working-class upbringing and boxing
- Ray explains that he grew up near the docks, where boxing was a natural path for kids in his neighborhood.
- He says boxing taught him not only how to fight, but more importantly how to avoid trouble and carry himself properly.
- He emphasizes how boxing gyms brought together kids from different backgrounds and created a shared sense of respect.
Early acting and discovering performance
- His interest in acting started in school, partly because he fancied a girl in a play.
- A school performance led to him getting noticed, and his parents supported him by paying for acting training.
- He describes loving cinema with his father and being shaped by films that reflected working-class life rather than aristocratic or American stories.
Education through acting
- Ray says acting and filmmaking ended up educating him, especially since he struggled with reading as a child.
- He describes the film business as something that opened the world to him and helped him grow.
Sexy Beast, The Gentlemen, and Working with Great Directors
Sexy Beast and Don Logan
- The hosts praise Ray’s legendary performance in Sexy Beast, especially the intensity and rhythm of his character, Don Logan.
- Ray explains that the film isn’t really just a gangster movie—it’s more of a love story and a character piece.
- He talks about originally being considered for the Gary role, but ultimately choosing Don Logan because he could play that character instinctively.
Working with Jonathan Glazer
- Ray says Jonathan Glazer had a strong visual sense early on and quickly proved he could also direct actors.
- He felt Glazer’s first feature showed real artistic command and precision.
Martin Scorsese and The Departed
- Ray recalls working with Martin Scorsese as a major career highlight.
- He describes asking Scorsese to let him play a gangster rather than a cop because that’s where he felt most at home.
- He jokes about British humor sometimes landing oddly with American directors, including Scorsese.
The Gentlemen season 2
- Ray says he’s enjoying working on The Gentlemen and likes the collaborative energy on set.
- He notes that Guy Ritchie often changes scripts on the fly, and although that can be frustrating, the changes usually improve the material.
- He praises the cast and says the show has a strong team behind it.
Personal Reflections and Health
Drinking, smoking, and shingles
- Ray says he stopped drinking about two and a half years ago, started training, and lost weight.
- Despite improving his lifestyle, he got shingles, which he describes as extremely painful and persistent.
- He talks candidly about smoking, quitting cigarettes, and then switching to cigars, which became its own habit.
Family and home life
- He has three daughters and grandsons, and says having grandchildren feels like a second chance to enjoy the baby years.
- He’s very close with his family and still stays connected to friends from his childhood neighborhood.
- He values that his friends don’t talk about show business and keep him grounded.
Notable Takeaways
- Ray Winstone is deeply rooted in working-class culture and has carried that perspective into his acting.
- He sees boxing as discipline and education, not just violence.
- He believes great acting comes from instinct, honesty, and sometimes breaking the rules.
- He prefers real-life emotion and rhythm over overly polished performance.
- His stories about Sexy Beast, The Gentlemen, and Scorsese reveal how much he values good writing, strong directors, and authentic character work.
Memorable Moments
- His story about a chaotic airplane incident that led to an arrest after landing.
- His blunt take on flying: it’s awful, and he always seems to get sick afterward.
- His description of shingles as feeling like “a red-hot poker” in his back.
- His insight that the real job of boxing is to learn how not to fight.
- His reflection that the best performances come from stepping into your own rhythm rather than copying someone else’s.