The co-star Ray Winstone hated working with: “So far up his own arse”
Even if you’re one of the biggest names in the industry, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a nice person. In fact, there are many huge Hollywood personalities who have made it their sole mission to be the biggest assholes on the planet, with strange alter egos on stage that make them come across as very charming and humble while actually being the complete opposite. It’s an age-old stereotype that has defined Hollywood and the city of Los Angeles for decades, with rumours of old stars who had audiences wrapped around their fingers and everyone else begging for mercy.
It’s a debacle that Seth Rogen has even made a focus in his latest series The Studio, making fun of the vapid celebrity types who sweet-talk their way into getting everything they want while actually being awful people. But for Ray Winstone, he unfortunately had his own taste of this double personality after working with one of the greatest actors of all time, with less-than-kind words to say about someone who was apparently completely insufferable to be around.
Despite racking up credits with some of the best directors in the business, working with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Glazer and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is one of those rare actors who still seems like a very humble and normal guy. He still has the same East-London charm and sense of humour that he had at the very beginning, with his breakout role in Scum leading to a colourful career.
But while he has been creatively challenged through starring in most genres you could think of, perhaps the rockiest experience of his career came through working with Jack Nicholson, with the actor describing his rough encounter with him and his unbearable ego while filming The Departed in 2006.
The film is one of the most infamous from Scorsese’s filmography, also starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg, with Nicholson playing the crooked criminal and leader of the South Boston Irish mafia. However, there were rumours that Winstone and Nicholson didn’t get along, with the actor giving a very unfiltered response when asked about this.
When asked if he disliked Nicholson, Winstone said, “No, we just didn’t get on. I just found him…. listen, he’s getting older, you know, and maybe has lots of things going on with him. I didn’t like him, no, I thought he was so far up his own arse it was unbelievable, and he was very rude. He was very rude to me, he was very rude to my wife. If he had been a younger man, I would definitely have knocked him out. He’s brilliant at what he does, and he’s a great writer (or so he kept telling us), but at the same time, my grandfather was an old man, and he was a gentleman, he was a lovely man. So, fuck him”.
These are pretty harsh and unfiltered words, but from the sounds of it, they were completely justified. Nicholson might be good at what he does, but sometimes being too good at something can completely corrupt your ego and ruin your personality entirely, leading you to become obsessed with yourself and the way you are viewed by those who admire you. Perhaps Nicholson needs to be humbled and taken down a peg or two, a task that Winstone wholeheartedly embraced.
