Ray Winstone says filming 'Black Widow' was 'soul-destroying' because producers told him his performance was 'too strong'

• Ray Winstone opened up about his experience working on Marvel's "Black Widow."
• The British actor says he found it difficult when producers criticized his performance.

Ray Winstone said working on Marvel's "Black Widow" was "soul-destroying" because producers told him his performance was too strong during reshoots on the 2021 movie.

The film, which went straight to streaming due to the pandemic, sees the titular character played by Scarlett Johansson confront her past as a soviet assassin for an organization called the Red Room.

This forces the Avenger to face off against General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) and his formidable bodyguard, Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).

Winstone told Radio Times magazine that he found it difficult working on the Marvel movie, especially when producers criticized his performance during reshoots.

"It was fine until you have to do the reshoots," he said. "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."

Winstone added: "It can be soul-destroying because you feel like you're doing great work."

The actor said that he wanted to quit "Black Widow," and told producers to recast the role. He only stayed because he had signed a contract.

"I actually said, 'You ought to recast it' because that was it for me.' And 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 said.

So it seems unlikely that Winstone will work with Marvel Studios again in the future, especially considering Dreykov dies at the end of "Black Widow."

It's not the first time the "Indiana Jones" and "The Departed" star has spoken about the difficulties of working on blockbuster projects. On Sunday, Winstone told The Guardian that he sometimes takes roles he's not interested in, simply because he needs the money.

"You do do films you don't want to do. But you've got to do them because you haven't worked in a little while and you've got to pay the rent," he said.

Winstone isn't the only actor to have complained about working on the franchise, as stars including Natalie Portman, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, and more have spoken out about the difficulties they've faced during their time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.