Ray Winstone on family, politics, and that injury he got while playing King Saul in Of Kings and Prophets

I have always liked Ray Winstone as an actor, but I didn’t really know much about him as a person until I came across this interview with him that The Telegraph ran today.

And now I think I like him even more.

In the interview, Winstone — who is currently promoting the British miniseries The Trials of Jimmy Rose — talks about his family, his politics and his Cockney roots. (Among other things, we learn that this quintessential “tough guy” is “surrounded by women” at home, including his wife of 37 years and their three daughters.)

The story also refers to an accident Winstone had while shooting the original pilot for Of Kings and Prophets, in which he plays King Saul:

But now aged 58, he wonders if he’s getting too long in the tooth for the actor’s life – he’s still nursing a broken vertebra caused while riding a horse in Kings and Prophets, and admits his tolerance for some of the “arseholes” in the business diminishes by the day.

Alas, Winstone’s injury might have been for naught. The Of Kings and Prophets pilot is being completely reshot now that the show is set to premiere on ABC next year, and it is possible that the original pilot might never be seen by the public.

Here’s hoping Winstone doesn’t retire all that soon, though.

Check out the rest of the Telegraph’s interview with Winstone here.

— The image above comes from the Of Kings and Prophets trailer.