“Don’t you dare do that”: Ray Winstone recounts telling off a director over alleged misconduct with one of his female costars during filming

The Qudrophenia actor Ray Winstone, widely popular for playing tough guy roles in gangster films and action-thrillers, during a conversation with The Times of London on August 28, 2026, recalled how he, back in the day, defended and stood up for a female costar who was allegedly assaulted and taken advantage of by the movie's director on the film set.

While Ray Winstone, 69, did not reveal the film director's identity, according to Entertainment Weekly, the Nil by Mouth actor sorted him out for assaulting and touching his costar inappropriately. As Winstone warned the film director and asked him not to misbehave at the time, the senior British actor said:

"I had this director once... I was in a scene where I had to pick up this girl, and the director wanted to show me what to do. But he was groping her."

While mentioning how that film director took advantage of the situation, Winstone continued:

"I said, ‘Don’t you dare do that.’ He abused his power, took advantage, and she was a good kid, you know, who seemed a little lost. Anyway, it was dealt with."

When Ray Winstone, who has been married to Elaine Winstone since 1979, with whom he shares three children, was asked what "dealt with" exactly meant, the Beowulf star went ahead and took the opportunity to explain his choice of words, and said:

"Well, back in the day, if there was a wrong'un on set, 99 times out of 100 it was sorted, either by the hairy-arsed riggers or sparks. I've done it myself too, taken someone to the side to give them a slap or to tell them, in no uncertain terms, to behave. But it's a different world today."

Ray Winstone opened up about some aspects of his youth in his memoir, Young Winstone

While being hugely famous for his hardcore, screen brawler roles, Ray Winstone, in his real life, was and still is a bit of a tough guy. According to The Guardian, in his book Young Winstone, which was released in 2014, he opened up about a few things as he was growing up, and mentioned how he used to get into fights in school and that it was his father who taught him how to fight. In his memoir, Winstone wrote:

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"It is what it is. Clump or be clumped. He knew that world. Him and his mates, there was a code they lived by. It wasn't a bad code. No one got killed."

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