Editing Ray Winstone (section)

== 1990–2003 ==
Winstone was asked to appear in ''[[Mr Thomas]]'',<ref name="lunatic"/> a play written by his friend and fellow Londoner [[Kathy Burke]]. The reviews were good, and led to Winstone being cast, alongside Burke, in [[Gary Oldman]]'s drama ''[[Nil by Mouth (film)|Nil By Mouth]]'' (1997).<ref name="tv"/> He was widely lauded for his performance as an alcoholic [[Spousal abuse|wife-batterer]], receiving a [[BAFTA]] nomination (17 years after his Best Newcomer award for ''[[That Summer (1979 film)|That Summer]]'').<ref name="tv"/> He continued to play "tough guy" roles in ''[[Face (1997 film)|Face]]'' and ''[[The War Zone]]'' – the latter especially controversial, as he played a man who rapes his own daughter – but that obvious toughness also allowed him to play loved-up nice-guys in romantic comedies ''Fanny and Elvis'' and ''[[There's Only One Jimmy Grimble]]''. In ''Last Christmas'', he played a dead man, now a trainee angel, who returns from heaven to help his young son cope with his bereavement which was written by [[Tony Grounds]]. In 1995, he played the sinister and mysterious Thane in the comedy drama series ''[[The Ghostbusters of East Finchley]]''. The series was also written by Grounds, with whom Winstone worked again on ''Births, Marriages & Deaths'' and ''Our Boy'', the latter winning him the [[Royal Television Society]] Best Actor Award. They worked together again in 2006 on ''All in the Game'' where Winstone portrayed a football manager. He did a series of [[Pilsener|Holsten Pils]] advertisements where he played upon the phrase "Who's the Daddy", coined in the film ''[[Scum (film)|Scum]]''.

In 2000, Winstone starred alongside [[Jude Law]] in ''[[Love, Honour and Obey]]''.<ref name="tv"/> He then played lead role in ''[[Sexy Beast]]'' (2001),<ref name="lunatic"/> which earned him great acclaim from UK and international audiences and brought him to the attention of the American film industry. Winstone plays "Gal" Dove, a retired and happily married former thief dragged back into London's underworld by a [[psychopathic]] former associate ([[Ben Kingsley]], who received an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nomination for his performance). In 2000, he starred in ''[[To the Green Fields Beyond (play)|To the Green Fields Beyond]]'' at the [[Donmar Warehouse]] and directed by [[Sam Mendes]]. In 2002, he performed at the [[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]] as Griffin in ''The Night Heron''. Two years later, he joined [[Kevin Spacey]] for ''24 Hour Plays'' at the [[Old Vic]], a series of productions that were written, rehearsed, and performed in a single day.

After a brief role alongside Burke again in the [[tragicomedy|tragi-comic]] ''[[The Martins (film)|The Martins]]'' (2001),<ref name="tv"/> he appeared in ''[[Last Orders (film)|Last Orders]]'' (2001), where he starred alongside [[Michael Caine]], [[Helen Mirren]], [[David Hemmings]], and [[Tom Courtenay]]. Next, Winstone got a prime part in ''[[Ripley's Game (film)|Ripley's Game]]'' (2002), the semisequel to ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley (film)|The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'', in which he once again played a [[gangster]]. He followed up with ''Lenny Blue'', the sequel to ''Tough Love'', and the short "The Bouncer". Now internationally known, Winstone was next chosen by [[Anthony Minghella]] to play Teague, a sinister Home Guard boss in the [[American Civil War]] drama ''[[Cold Mountain (film)|Cold Mountain]]'' (2003).

According to actor Dominic West, Ray Winstone was the original choice to play the now iconic role of "Jimmy McNulty" in the HBO series ''[[The Wire]]'' (2002). West stated Winstone turned down the role because he did not want to live in Baltimore, Maryland, and the role subsequently went to West. <ref name="tv"/>