Ray Winstone revealed he's given up smoking after 44 years as the notorious Hollywood hard man decided to finally overhaul his lifestyle.
The Sexy Beast star, 66, is currently relaxing at his home in Sicily, and it was during his well-deserved break from acting he realised he wasn’t even enjoying cigarettes anymore, despite having a 15 a day habit.
“I gave up smoking about five or six months ago. One day I just bought a packet of cigarettes and I lit one up and went, ‘What are you doing? I don’t even enjoy this’,” he told the Mirror.
“I just threw them away, and I feel so much better for it,” Ray explained.
The award-winning British actor, who is on a break from acting work thanks to the writers’ strike in Hollywood, said his smoking habit began back in 1979 while working on the musical drama Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains.
Starring alongside Sex Pistol Steve Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash, Ray played lead singer Billy, and his character was required to chain smoke, which kickstarted his habit.
“I started smoking on a film. I’d just got married. Maybe that’s got something to do with it? Don’t let Elaine hear me say that,” he laughed.
Ray continued: “I had to chain smoke in a film with the Sex Pistols and The Clash...that’s where I started, really. But I bum-suck them. I never really took them down, I wasn’t a proper smoker in a way. A bit like cigar smoking.”
The Departed star has been honest over the years about his battle to quit smoking, and in 2010, he told the Guardian he “hated” cigarettes but couldn’t kick his addiction.
“I hate it, but I do it. I had to chain smoke on a film years ago and I've had 15 a day ever since,” he shared.
And just four years later, he tried to beat the cigs by investing in an e-cigarette instead, but couldn’t get the hang of it.
“I bought one of those false ones and I put the oil in the wrong end. I puffed on it and all the oil went in my mouth. It's like I was not destined to give up (smoking),” he told the Daily Telegraph.
