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\nActor Ray Winstone said in a recent interview that he was drunk during his audition to play Natalie Portman’s on-screen father in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels”I\u2019d been out all night, and I turned up, and I knew I was wrong for the part as soon as I walked in,” Winstone recalledGraeme Blundell played Ruwee Naberrie, father to Portman’s Padme Amidala, in 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith<\/p>\n
Ray Winstone is recalling that his audition for a role in Star Wars didn’t go over well, in large part because he was drunk from the prior night.\n<\/p>\n
Winstone, 68, told Far Out magazine<\/a> in a recent interview that his audition for one of George Lucas<\/a>‘ Star Wars prequels “didn\u2019t go well,\u201d in large part due to his recollection that he had been out the entirety of the night before he met with the franchise’s creator.\n<\/p>\n \u201cHad words and that was that. I\u2019ve worked for George since, and he was fine,” Winstone recalled. “He didn\u2019t remember. Or if he did, he didn\u2019t take it to heart.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Winstone, a character actor best known for his roles in The Departed and Black Widow, implied that he had auditioned to portray Natalie Portman<\/a>‘s on-screen father in one of the Star Wars prequels when he said the role he was up for was \u201cthe Princess\u2019 father, or something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Ray Winstone in London on March 5, 2024.<\/p>\n Jeff Spicer\/WireImage<\/p>\n “I was pissed anyway,\u201d the actor shared. \u201cI\u2019d been out all night, and I turned up, and I knew I was wrong for the part as soon as I walked in, but instead of saying that, [Lucas] relayed the message to me through someone else, and I took umbrage at that.”\n<\/p>\n While Winstone never clarified exactly which Star Wars movie he auditioned for,\u00a0actor Graeme Blundell ultimately portrayed the character Ruwee Naberrie \u2014 father to Portman’s Padme Amidala \u2014 in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. (Blundell, 80, also appeared in a deleted scene<\/a> from 2002’s Attack of the Clones.)\n<\/p>\n As Winstone noted in his interview with Far Out, he ultimately worked with Lucas, now 81, on 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which Lucas produced and cowrote.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\n<\/p>\n Ray Winstone in London on Oct. 21, 2024.<\/p>\n Mike Marsland\/WireImage<\/p>\n