Ray Winstone recalls turning down lead role in The Wire to put his family before Hollywood fame and jokes 'the show was better for me not being in it'

Ray Winstone has recalled turning down the lead role in hit show The Wire, admitting he chose family over US fame.The Gentlemen star says he has no regrets about saying no to the lead in what has been dubbed by many critics as one of the greatest TV dramas of all time.Ray, 69, was offered the role of the hard-drinking narcotics cop Detective Jimmy McNulty in the drama which ran from 2002-2008, with the part eventually going to fellow Brit Dominic West.Ray, who at the time had come to attention of US casting agents thanks to his lead in the 2000 film Sexy Beast, said it was his family which made him say no.Recalling how he didn't want to leave his wife Elaine and three daughters, Lois, 44, Jaime, 41, and Ellie Rae, 25 behind in England, the actor explained: 'I met the guys who were producing it, who were really lovely, really nice guys, intelligent, good writers... but it was 7 months in the first series and it was seven months next season.'Ray Winstone has recalled turning down the lead role in hit show The Wire, admitting he chose family over US fame (pictured with his wife Elaine and two eldest daughters Lois and Jaime in 1999) Raywas offered the role of the narcotics cop Detective Jimmy McNulty in the drama, with the part eventually going to fellow Brit Dominic West (pictured with Wendell Pierce in the show)'And I thought, "well, there's options here". I go don't see me kids and me wife for seven months because they were little or I bring them.'Mimicking a US accent, Ray told the The Romesh Ranganathan Show podcast, 'mommy, daddy, I'm not having that. We're British.'He added that the 'gun culture' in US schools also put him off. 'Kids going to school, you know, checking for guns.''No, we didn't have that then here, you know, and it's like, no. You got to make choices. Choices in life, you know'Asked if he has ever regretted saying no, the down-to-earth star said 'not one bit. In fact, the show was better for me not being in it. The geezer who played it was blinding, you know.'Instead of The Wire , Ray went on to star in major Hollywood movies in the mid to late noughties including Jerry Bruckheimer's King Arthur, Martin Scorsese's 2006 film The Departed and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.The actor is currently starring in the second series of Guy Ritchie's Netflix hit show The Gentlemen, where he plays hardman Bobby Glass.Guy Ritchie's Netflix series, which landed in 2024 and carries the same name as the 2019 movie, stars Theo James as Eddie Horniman, who in the first series suddenly inherited his late father's country estate and the title of the 13th Duke of Halstead. The actor is currently starring in the second series of Guy Ritchie's Netflix hit show The Gentlemen, where he plays hardman Bobby GlassEddie discovers that his new country pile actually houses a sprawling underground cannabis empire, forcing him to immerse himself in the criminal world, which he slowly develops a taste for. Ray plays the incarcerated head of the massive cannabis empire and Kaya Scodelario plays his ice-cold daughter Susie.With Bobby standing in the way of expanding the criminal empire, Eddie and Susie must decide whether to fall in line or make their own moves in the second series. When asked by The Times in a recent interview if he has any plans to slow down his career, Ray simply quipped: 'Well, you've got to pay the taxman, haven't you?'