The Star Wars prequels were not particularly enjoyable to sit through. All the matinee adventure serial action of the first three films were gone, replaced by long scenes about impenetrable galactic taxation systems, as performed by characters that seemed to have been designed purely for their potential to sell toys.
So bad were the prequels in fact, that realistically there is only one thing that could have possibly improved them. Of course, I am talking about the sight of Ray Winstone tearing around the set in a silly costume, drunk off his face. Only now do we understand how close this came to be.
Talking to FHM, Winstone revealed that he auditioned for the part of Ruwee Naberrie, the father of Padmé Amidala, in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. And he would have got it, too, except for the fact that he turned up a little worse for wear. Or, as Winstone puts it, he was “pissed” and things “didn’t go well”.
