From 80s favourite Robin of Sherwood to recent Oscar winner The Departed, the imposing figure of Ray Winstone has become synonymous with quality drama over the years. Now, with the lead role in new motion-capture epic Beowulf, the actor is bigger, harder, faster and stronger than ever before. Abbie Bernstein talked to him about the movie.

How many characters do you play in Beowulf?
Four! I play Beowulf, Old Beowulf, the dragon and Golden Boy, so it was quite heavy. I was doing scenes with myself!

How do you play a dragon?
You think about the way everybody else is playing a dragon, and you do exactly the opposite.

How did you come to be involved in the film?
When I was doing The Departed, I got the call from Robert Zemeckis. I know about the stuff that Bob has done before, so I knew he was going to be making something good. I thought he'd want me to audition, but I got offered the job there and then. Bob had seen Henry VIII and liked the voice, so it was quite a quick process, and very flattering.

How would you describe Beowulf's voice in the movie?
It’s kind of a cross between Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Hitler! And that’s what the film’s all about, really. You’ve got a romantic warrior, but he’s really a monster. It’s about greed and ambition and what monsters men can be. Bob said, "I want you to do that deep English warrior-sounding voice." So I went back to that.

At the start of the film, Beowulf is in his 20s, though you’re a bit older…
Yeah! In the film I’m 6' 7" with a six-pack! I thought I’d better start doing a bit of training, but Bob said, "We do all that. You can eat as much pasta as you like!" It’s amazing what this way of working can do. They made me look a right sort, with muscles and all that, so thank God for that process! I actually became a superhero.

What is that motion capture process like?
More enjoyable than I expected! You wear a kind of wetsuit, with dots all over you, and before you start you go into a T-pose, with your arms outstretched, so the computer can work out where all your bits are. It works in your favor, because the camera can go anywhere, and you are actually shooting your mid, your long and your close-up shots all at the same time, for the computer to sort out later.

It’s very freeing, because you use your imagination a lot more. You say to yourself, "There’s a castle on the hill in the distance," and you’ve got to see it, even though it’s not there. So you’ve got to go in with a really open mind and just attack it. Sometimes Bob would say, "That move looked wrong," but nine times out of 10, you could do what you like.

Did you wear a costume at all?
I had a very heavy jacket, so I felt like I had this heavy armour on me. It didn’t cover any of the dots on the suit, it just made a weight to help me settle myself and the way I stood. But I didn’t wearing any swords or any props at all. It’s something Beowulf lived with all his life, so I’d rather just walk about and let the swords worry about what I’m doing, rather than me worry about them.

How did you differentiate the older Beowulf from his younger self?
It was quite hard to do without makeup, actually, because I didn’t feel physically different. He still had to be a mighty warrior, and couldn’t look as if he was slowing up, so I just had to think of small things, like an ache, or a twist in his back when he gets off a horse. I played old Henry VIII, and I loved that. But the old Beowulf was more difficult. I didn’t have the costume, so I had to work my way around it.

You seem to have a fondness for historical roles…
I’ve always been a lover of history. I’ve not actually set out to look at the past – just really good stories and ideas. But I guess that’s where they come from. Robin of Sherwood was a big part of my life, and the actors have still got a really big connection. I've got a lot of friends from that show, and great memories as well.

One of your fellow merry men from the series was Mark Ryan, who voiced Bumblebee in the recent Transformers movie, and was your sword master on King Arthur…
Mark brings a truth of combat to his sword work. It won’t just be fancy footwork – there’s a bit of battering going on, too, because he knows all that stuff. He’s very talented and a good mate, so it was great.

What was Robert Zemeckis like to work with?
He’s the same as Scorsese, really. He respects his crew and his crew respects him. He doesn’t get fazed. Bob is in command of his ship and he’s there for the performers. It was a really happy set. I love that. You’re there to enjoy yourself, you know?

Beowulf goes on general release today.