Ray Winstone, who played Dreykov in Black Widow, says Marvel changed almost everything about his performance after reshoots, suggesting the original version of the movie was much darker and more disturbing.
Winstone on His Original Dreykov Performance
Speaking recently at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Winstone explained that director Cate Shortland pushed for a chilling take on Dreykov, who oversaw the Red Room program that created the Black Widows.
“He was like a pedophile running around all these girls, and they’d become Black Widows,” Winstone recalled. “We used to get applauded on set. It was probably the best thing I’ve done for a really long time.”
But when Marvel decided to reshoot the film, everything changed.
“I get a call saying we need to do some reshoots. I say: how many scenes? [Cate] says ‘all of them.’ So I said she should recast [the role], but I was contracted, so I had to do it. I go back, they do my hair all nice, put me in the suit, and I couldn’t do it. I’d already done it,” he said.
He admitted he felt rejected by the changes.
“There’s nothing worse than doing something, leaving it on the floor, and then being told it’s not right,” he said.
A Different Vision of Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson previously said Black Widow was designed to address the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, framing the film as a feminist story about women helping each other escape exploitation.
“I think this film in particular is very much reflective of what’s going on in regards to the Time’s Up movement and the #MeToo movement,” Johansson told Empire.
That fits with Winstone’s comments, which suggests Johansson (producer) and Shortland may have been building something even more explicitly tied to sending the message before Marvel stepped in to reshoot and reshape the narrative.
Marvel’s Sanitized Version?
The final cut of Black Widow still depicts Dreykov as a manipulative abuser who brainwashes and controls young women (it’s a take on Harvey Weinstein), but Winstone’s comments reveal that Marvel Studios may have pulled back on an even harsher depiction of the character and his crimes.
For Winstone, it left the experience sour: “I thought, ‘I’m not doing it now. I’ve done it. That’s how it’s going to be.’ That’s rejection, you know? There’s nothing worse than doing something, leaving it on the floor, and then being told it’s not right.”
