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British actor Ray Winstone, one of this year’s recipients of an honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award for career achievement, stopped by the Variety Lounge, presented by the Sarajevo Film Festival and BH Telecom, ahead of the open-air screening of John Hillcoat’s “The Proposition.”
The actor, visiting the Bosnian capital for the first time, praised the warmth of its people and added, ”It’s an interesting place. You have an image of how it’s going to look and feel, and it’s totally different from what I expected. It’s beautiful.”
Winstone said he was surprised to get the award: “Then you kind of sit down and think what it is actually about. I’ve been making films for 50 years, and to be awarded something like that from a place like this is quite an honor.”
Recalling the beginnings of his career, the actor said his boxing days as a teenager had given him a set of transferable skills into acting, above all a sense of respect for your opponent. “In a ring, you face an opponent, and you’re man upon man. It’s the same kind of thing, acting. You have to trust and respect someone who’s standing opposite, and you realize you need that person to be in form as much as you. They make you look good.”
The “Sexy Beast” star said being described by the festival as an example of “authentic British acting” as “a hell of a weight on my shoulders.”
“I’ve been lucky enough to work with some icons from the British industry like Michael Caine and Tom Courtenay, people I grew up watching and were the reason why I could become an actor. To work alongside them was a hell of a moment for me.”
After working with such titans in the industry, is there anything Winstone still has unchecked on his bucket list? In terms of collaborators, the actor brings up Ridley Scott as someone he would like to work with. As for his dream role, Winstone said he would have loved to play the titular role in an adaptation of Nick Cave’s “The Death of Bunny Munro.” The book has recently been adapted into a six-part Sky TV series starring Matt Smith and set to premiere sometime this year.
“I looked at it about 20 years ago and went, ‘I got it.’ They are going to do it, but I’m too old now, so I’ve missed that one,” added the actor. “I would have loved to have done it, but it will be special.”
