Actor Ray Winstone has revealed he tried to step away from his role in Marvel's Black Widow because he found one aspect of the production particularly challenging.
In a new interview with Radio Times magazine, Winstone, who played Russian general Dreykov in the 2021 Scarlett Johansson-led action-thriller, admitted he almost gave up on Black Widow altogether after experiencing the filming process (specifically the reshoots) first-hand and getting feedback about his performance.
"It was fine until you have to do the reshoots," Winstone told the outlet, recalling his Black Widow experience. "Then you find out that a few producers have come down, and your performance is too much, it's too strong… That's the way Marvel works. It can be soul-destroying because you feel like you're doing great work.
"I actually said, 'You ought to recast it because that was it for me,'" he admitted. "You end up doing it again because you're contracted to do it. Otherwise, you end up in court. It's like being kicked in the balls."
Winstone's character didn't make it out of Black Widow alive, but the film introduced several other characters who will likely appear in future projects. Florence Pugh, for instance, is returning as Yelena Belova in Thunderbolts alongside the familiar MCU faces of Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes and David Harbour's Red Guardian.
However, it sounds like Winstone will not be signing on for a Marvel role again anytime soon, taking a similar stance to Scarlett Johansson, who has said she is "done" playing Black Widow and is no longer interested in being a part of the growing MCU as it continues to expand throughout Phase 5 and beyond.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.
