Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#2862
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Ray Winstone represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 45 years in, and Ray is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Ray Winstone appears in 32 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Ray. The Departed is the clearest case: a film rated 9.0 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for action, fantasy, adventure. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Joel Crawford, Stephen Moyer and others, Ray Winstone helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
The Departed (2006) as Mr. French · The Departed (2006) as Mr. French · Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) as Papa Bear (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #2862 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
32
1979–2024
Career length
45 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.0
The Departed
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.5
The Departed
Most frequent director
Martin Scorsese
3 films together
Longest collaboration
3×
With Martin Scorsese
Most common genre
Drama
19 titles
Average runtime
1h 53m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.8
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2000s
6.9 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. Fool's Gold, Beowulf, The Departed — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.9
Across 9 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1970s
7.0
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1970s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Quadrophenia.
Most productive era
2010s
14 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1970s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.81 film | 6.82 films | 7.54 films | 5.810 films | 4.92 films |
| Action | — | — | 6.22 films | 5.82 films | 7.22 films |
| Thriller | — | — | 7.93 films | 5.93 films | — |
| Comedy | — | — | 5.81 film | 5.84 films | 8.31 film |
| Crime | — | — | 7.93 films | 5.95 films | 6.01 film |
| Romance | — | — | 6.33 films | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1979Quadrophenia
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Kevin.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2006The Departed
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.0 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2024Damsel
The current state of the argument, as Lord Bayford.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
32 of 32 films
as Mr. French
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Mr. French
Directed by Martin Scorsese
as Papa Bear (voice)
Directed by Joel Crawford
as Dreykov
Directed by Cate Shortland
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Showing 24 of 33 titles · 33 total credits · active 1979–2024
Damsel
2024 · Lord Bayford
The Gentlemen
2024 · TV · Bobby Glass
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
2022 · Papa Bear (voice)
A Bit of Light
2022 · Alan
Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher
2022 · Bill Warr
Black Widow
2021 · Dreykov
(K)nox: The Rob Knox Story
2021 · Self
Cats
2019 · Growltiger
The Queen's Corgi
2019 · Tyson (voice)
Quadrophenia: Our Generation
2019 · Self
King of Thieves
2018 · Danny Jones
The Gunman
2015 · Stanley Edgerton
The Legend of Barney Thomson
2015 · Holdall
Zipper
2015 · Coaker
Noah
2014 · Tubal-cain
The Sweeney
2012 · Jack Regan
Hugo
2011 · Uncle Claude
Rango
2011 · Bad Bill (voice)
Edge of Darkness
2010 · Jedburgh
13
2010 · Ronald Lynn
London Boulevard
2010 · Gant
Fool's Gold
2008 · Moe Fitch
Beowulf
2007 · Beowulf / Golden Man / Dragon
The Departed
2006 · Mr. French
The defining work
#1
Mr. French
The Departed (2006)
Performance score8.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Mr. French gives Ray Winstone a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Mr. French
The Departed (2006)
Performance score8.3
The Departed asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Mr. French is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Papa Bear (voice)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Performance score8.0
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Papa Bear (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Dreykov
Black Widow (2021)
Performance score7.5
Black Widow asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Dreykov is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Mr. French
Start here. The Departed is the clearest statement of what Ray Winstone does — accessible, 151 minutes, and rated 9.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Ray at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Nil by Mouth (1997)
Keeps the drama register of The Departed but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Departed (2006)
Keeps the drama register of Nil by Mouth but asks for a colder reading of it.
Black Widow (2021)
A deliberate change of key after The Departed — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Keeps the adventure register of Black Widow but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Martin Scorsese
Director
3 films together
Notably The Departed
Anthony Minghella
Director
2 films together
Notably Cold Mountain
Franc Roddam
Director
1 film together
Notably Quadrophenia
Gary Oldman
Director
1 film together
Notably Nil by Mouth
Tim Roth
Director
1 film together
Notably The War Zone
Liliana Cavani
Director
1 film together
Notably Ripley's Game
Antoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together
Notably King Arthur
Andrew Adamson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Robert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together
Notably Beowulf
Andy Tennant
Director
1 film together
Notably Fool's Gold
William Monahan
Director
1 film together
Notably London Boulevard
Martin Campbell
Director
1 film together
Notably Edge of Darkness
Gore Verbinski
Director
1 film together
Notably Rango
Nick Love
Director
1 film together
Notably The Sweeney
Darren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together
Notably Noah
Robert Carlyle
Director
1 film together
Notably The Legend of Barney Thomson
Pierre Morel
Director
1 film together
Notably The Gunman
James Marsh
Director
1 film together
Notably King of Thieves
Tom Hooper
Director
1 film together
Notably Cats
Cate Shortland
Director
1 film together
Notably Black Widow
Stephen Moyer
Director
1 film together
Notably A Bit of Light
Joel Crawford
Director
1 film together
Notably Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Director
1 film together
Notably Damsel
Matt Damon
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Leonardo DiCaprio
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Jack Nicholson
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Mark Wahlberg
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Martin Sheen
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Vera Farmiga
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Anthony Anderson
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Alec Baldwin
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Kevin Corrigan
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
James Badge Dale
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
David O'Hara
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Mark Rolston
Actor
1 film together
Notably The Departed
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Martin Scorsese
Director
3 films together · 8.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The DepartedAnthony Minghella
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Cold MountainJoel Crawford
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Puss in Boots: The Last WishCate Shortland
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Black WidowAndrew Adamson
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeJuan Carlos Fresnadillo
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DamselGore Verbinski
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
RangoGary Oldman
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nil by MouthTim Roth
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The War ZoneFranc Roddam
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
QuadropheniaMartin Campbell
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Edge of DarknessAntoine Fuqua
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
King ArthurLiliana Cavani
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ripley's GameRobert Carlyle
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Legend of Barney ThomsonWilliam Monahan
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
London BoulevardRobert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BeowulfPierre Morel
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The GunmanAndy Tennant
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fool's GoldDarren Aronofsky
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
NoahNick Love
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The SweeneyJames Marsh
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
King of ThievesTom Hooper
Director
1 film together · 4.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
CatsStephen Moyer
Director
1 film together · 3.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
A Bit of LightSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Departed
as Mr. French
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Hugo
as Uncle Claude
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Departed
as Mr. French
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Departed
as Mr. French
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Departed
as Mr. French
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Ray Winstone has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.0 | 9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #428 of 681 | #1 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 3 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 1 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 5 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.0 | 9.1 |
| Genres | Crime, Thriller, Drama | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, History |
| Directors | Martin Scorsese | Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese |
| Performance DNA | Quiet performance, Intensity, Screen presence | Transformation, Drama, Screen presence |
| Career timeline | 2006–2006 | 2006–2026 |
| Most iconic role | Mr. French — The Departed | Odysseus — The Odyssey |
| Most rewatchable film | The Departed | Interstellar |
| Filmography | 1 catalogue film | 4 catalogue films |
Films together
The Departed
Shared directors
Martin Scorsese
Shared collections
Top 100 Crime Movies, Thriller Movies, Crime Movies, Drama Movies
Collaborators in common
Martin Scorsese · Leonardo DiCaprio · Jack Nicholson · Mark Wahlberg
Matt Damon edges ahead here — a higher floor across a comparable body of work.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
45 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Drama Legend
Awarded
19 catalogue titles in drama, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The Departed
as Mr. French
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Departed
as Mr. French
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Hugo
as Uncle Claude
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Edge of Darkness
as Jedburgh
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Departed
as Mr. French
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Black Widow
as Dreykov
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Rango
as Bad Bill (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Departed
as Mr. French
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
Across the library
Every Nutevio collection this name turns up in, and how high they rank there.
Collection footprint
Appears in 4 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
From the magazine
If you like this performer
Matt Damon
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Robert De Niro
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
Leonardo DiCaprio
Works with the same directors — Martin Scorsese
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Community
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